Union County Man Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Producing Child Pornography

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Union County man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 25 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina.  Chad Landon Blume, 34, of Waxhaw, N.C., was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.   The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division and Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey join Acting U.S. Attorney Rose in making today’s announcement.

According both to admissions made in connection with Blume’s guilty plea and to information introduced at sentencing, law enforcement recovered an SD Card that contained visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Court records indicate that law enforcement determined the SD Card came from Blume’s cellular phone, which he had used to produce the child pornography on or about November 2012.  During a subsequent search of Blume’s residence, agents seized Blume’s computer and other devices.  A forensic analysis of those devices revealed that Blume had produced numerous sexually explicit pictures of a female minor under the age of 10.  After Blume’s arrest, a second minor female came forward and disclosed that she had been molested by Blume.  Blume pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in December 2013.

Blume has been in federal custody since April 2013.  Upon designation of a federal facility, he will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The FBI’s Crimes Against Children Squad investigated the case, assisted by the Union County Sheriff’s Office.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Randall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte handled the prosecution.