Twin Falls man pleads guilty to child pornography charges
BOISE, Idaho – A Twin Falls man pleaded guilty in federal court Aug. 4 to transportation and possession of child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
In pleading guilty, Stephen Roy Walker, 43, admitted he transported 462 digital images and 42 digital videos containing child pornography from Texas to Idaho, and that he possessed the images while living in Idaho. Walker further admitted that 78 of the images containing child pornography, and four of the videos, depicted one of three children living with him at the Old Towne Lodge. Walker also acknowledged he took the images while living in Texas.
According the plea agreement, in February 2014, HSI agents served a search warrant at the Old Towne Lodge in Twin Falls, where Walker was living with three minor children. Agents seized computers and electronic devices pursuant to the warrant, and a subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed they contained images of child pornography.
Walker was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 9, 2015. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 1 before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
"Innocent children continue to be re-victimized with every view of a sexually explicit image or video," said Steve Cagen, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. "Together with our law enforcement partners, HSI will dedicate every resource available to stop these predators from stripping these children of that innocence."
HSI collaborated on the case with the Twin Falls Police Department, and both agencies received substantial assistance with the probe from the Buhl Police Department, the Idaho State Police, and the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
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