Honea claims he replaced drugs with new addiction
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Murphy – A man who told federal authorities he replaced his drug addiction with child pornography pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing sexually explicit images of minors.
Bryce Alan Honea, 33, pled guilty in federal court on Oct. 21. Authorities say he continued to collect child pornography even after police raided his relative’s home for the same offense a year prior to his arrest.
According to plea documents in the case, Honea offered 595 child pornography images on a peer-to-peer network for others to download in July 2018. Court documents say Cherokee County authorities who were monitoring the illegal activity, which originated from an internet protocol address on Pet Lane Road, downloaded the images from Honea through the internet.
Following a raid in February 2019, Honea gave authorities digital devices that contained 183 images of child pornography. In June this year, authorities seized additional devices from Honea and found 246 images of child
pornography.
Officials say they delayed arresting Honea after the encounter in 2019 because they were investigating potential new evidence that had come to light. The arrest was further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court documents say Honea admitted being addicted to sexually explicit images of minors, saying he “essentially replaced his methamphetamine use with child pornography.” He has been held without bail in the Cherokee County Detention Center since August because of the admission.
As part of the plea agreement, Honea forfeited three cell phones and a desktop computer to federal
authorities.
Honea faces a maximum prison term of 20 years for possessing child pornography. The possible penalty for distributing the images is a minimum term of 5 years not to exceed 20 years in prison.
Honea will undergo a pre-sentence investigation before a judge imposes his prison term. A sentencing date has not been scheduled at this time.