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Press Release

Hoover, Alabama Man Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Tennessee

Joseph Whitlow Blackburn, 68, of Hoover, Alabama, was charged today and pleaded guilty to  a criminal information charging him with possession of child pornography, announced David Rivera, U. S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. 

According to charging documents and the plea agreement, between January 30, 2013 and April 16, 2013, agents with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force were conducting an investigation into the sharing of child pornography over the Internet and identified on two separate occasions, video files that depicted child pornography.  ICAC Task Force agents subsequently identified the IP address associated with the child pornography downloads and obtained a federal search warrant for the house in Hoover, Alabama where Blackburn lived.

In April 2013 agents executed the search warrant and seized computers and other electronic storage devices.  A forensic examination of these devices later revealed pornographic images depicting children.  According to the plea agreement entered into with the government, Blackburn admitted that he possessed child pornography and agreed to accept a 3-year prison term, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.  Other conditions of release are also specified in the plea agreement, including requiring Blackburn to register as a sex offender.

This case was transferred to the Middle District of Tennessee due to a potential conflict in the Northern District of Alabama which required recusal.  The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynne T. Ingram of the Middle District of Tennessee.

Updated January 7, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Childhood