Man pleads guilty to child porn charge

COEUR d'ALENE - A 38-year-old Coeur d'Alene man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court to possession of sexually explicit images of minors.

Keith David Killingsworth was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d'Alene on Feb. 18.

Accord-ing to the plea agreement, between July 2013, and December 2013, investigators with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force observed that a computer in Coeur d'Alene was making sexually explicit images of minors available on the internet.

ICAC investigators determined the images were being shared from a computer at Killingsworth's residence and obtained a search warrant.

ICAC investigators seized a number of computers from Killingsworth's residence.

A United States Secret Service forensic examiner later found that one of these computers, seized from Killingsworth's bedroom, contained more than 2,000 images and 67 videos, depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Search terms indicated that Killingsworth was looking for child pornography. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children determined that Killingsworth's child pornography collection included images of minors from multiple states, including Washington, Indiana, New Jersey, Iowa, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania and a number of foreign countries.

The charge of possession of sexually explicit images of minors is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to lifetime supervised release.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 15 before Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene.

The case was investigated through the collaborative effort of the Coeur d'Alene Police Department, the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office, Boise Police Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Secret Service. These agencies participate in the ICAC Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, focused on apprehending and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.