Murphy – Local authorities believe there has been an increase in the distribution of child pornography as a result of stay-at-home orders associated with COVID-19.
Officials believe the amount of time sexual predators are spending at home, coupled with the amount of time children are spending on the internet, has created an opportunity for more coercion and solicitation of child pornography. Authorities say a good amount of child pornography are images shared by the child after being threatened or coerced, as opposed to an adult producing the images themselves.
“We’re getting more and more cyber tips [regarding child pornography],” Cherokee County sheriff’s Detective Roger Williams said. “Normally, kids would be in school and maybe not have so much access to the internet. I know a lot of our learning has gravitated toward computers in the classroom, but [schools] do a pretty good job of monitoring and filtering [inappropriate material], which is something that maybe parents are not doing.”
Last month, authorities arrested a local resident who allegedly continued to collect child pornography even after police raided his relative’s home for the same offense a year prior.
Bryce Alan Honea, 33, is charged with three counts of distributing child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography. He is being held in the Cherokee County Detention Center without bail because he allegedly admitted to being “addicted to child pornography.”
Federal court documents obtained by the Cherokee Scout allege Honea told authorities that he had “essentially replaced his methamphetamine use with child pornography.” Following a raid in February 2019, Honea allegedly gave authorities digital devices that contained 183 images of child pornography.
About nine months later, officials received another tip that child pornography was being uploaded by someone using an internet connection at the property Honea rented. After seizing two additional phones from Honea in June, police 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 delay lasted even longer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents.
“It is unusual to see a defendant engage in additional illegal conduct after having been confronted by law enforcement such as the defendant did here,” a federal judge wrote in his order to detain Honea pending trial. “Defendant’s self-admitted addiction to child pornography is of great concern.”
Law enforcement officials suggest parents implement some type of content filter on their internet connection at home to prevent children from accessing the dark web. Parents are also advised to openly speak with children and teens about sex so they don’t seek advice or information online from others. Parents should also talk with teens about sharing images and the risks associated with posting photos of themselves in provocative poses.
“We’re seeing a lot more people being coerced into producing more and more pictures, and part of that could be that the child is not using common sense,” Williams said. “They may not realize they can’t erase their picture off the internet once they put it out there, and may not know that if they transmit a photo to another individual, that person has control.”