Nauvoo Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Almost 2,000 Images of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 21, 2010 |
BIRMINGHAM—A Nauvoo man pleaded guilty today in federal court to receiving and possessing almost 2,000 images of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
JOSHUA HOUSTON NESMITH, 41, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon. NESMITH admitted using a computer and the Internet to obtain the child pornography. According to his plea agreement, he used his home computer and a file sharing program to receive and possess 1,896 still images of child pornography and 102 video images of child pornography between June 2009 and June 2010. Some of the images on NESMITH’s computer showed children under the age of 3 years old.
“The children shown in these horrendous photos are made victims again and again as the images are sold and shared and the vile industry that produces and provides them continues to thrive,” Vance said. “Individuals who use computer technology to exploit our children should know that law enforcement is on the Internet looking for them.”
NESMITH remains in custody. He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 19, 2010.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Birmingham Police Department, and the Walker County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune is prosecuting the case.