Former Ft. Campbell Soldier Charged with Violating Child Pornography Laws While Residing on Military Bases

PADUCAH, KY—A former Fort Campbell, Kentucky soldier has been charged in a four-count indictment with knowingly possessing, mailing, transporting, and shipping child pornography while residing within the Fort Campbell Military Reservation and during active duty in Iraq, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Timothy Lee Hansen, age 25, appeared in United States District Court in Paducah, Kentucky, yesterday and entered pleas of not guilty to the charges brought by a federal grand jury on August 17, 2011. Prior to his indictment, Hansen had been charged in a criminal complaint on July 19, 2011. During an earlier hearing, Chief United States District Judge Thomas B. Russell ordered Hansen detained without bond.

According to court records, between February 2010, and February 15, 2011, Hansen, also known as “Hydes420,” allegedly used peer-to-peer Internet file-sharing software to download, store, and trade digital images of child pornography. A subpoena issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), tracked the IP address of the computer used to distribute child pornography to a computer belonging to Hansen and located in a soldier’s barracks at Fort Campbell. The information was turned over to the United States Army, Criminal Investigation Division (CID) at Fort Campbell on February 14, 2011.

Hansen was identified as an active-duty soldier assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group. According to the complaint, Hansen allegedly told investigators that he possessed approximately 100 megabytes of child pornography on his personal computers at Fort Campbell. He further allegedly admitted that he obtained and used the child pornography for sexual gratification.

If convicted, Hansen faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. The maximum potential penalties are 70 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000 and a period of supervised release of at least five years and could be for the remainder of his life.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless and is being investigated by the FBI and United States Army CID.