McCammon man pleads guilty in child porn case

A McCammon man pleaded guilty Monday to receiving and distributing child pornography after an investigation into his son.

According to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Allen Trent Carter, 53, was identified during the course of an investigation of his son, Bradley Vaine, 27, of Fresno, Calif. Authorities said Vaine and Carter exchanged numerous images of child pornography and engaged in multiple Facebook chat sessions where they discussed the sexual abuse of children. Federal prosecutors said Vaine was involved in trafficking in child pornography.

Special agents from Homeland Security Investigations had a federal search warrant at Carter’s McCammon home, where he admitted exchanging child pornography images with Vaine in August and October 2012. In his plea agreement, Carter said his offense involved more than 600 violent images of minors being sexually abused. He admitted he had engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse or exploitation of one or more minors.

“The fight against child pornography is not just about explicit images on a computer screen. It involves the real-life sexual abuse and exploitation of helpless children,” said Mike Prado, resident agent in charge of HSI Fresno, in the news release. “This case, which resulted in the rescue of a 7-year-old autistic child from Fresno, is a credit to tireless federal and local law enforcement cooperation in California and Idaho – all of us banding together to stop this horrific and destructive activity.”

Carter, who has been in federal custody since his arrest in Idaho on Jan. 8, will remain behind bars after being deemed a flight risk and danger to the community. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 13, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. Under the plea agreement, he may get a sentence of 20 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.

The charges against Vaine are pending.