Darlington man faces federal child porn charge

A Darlington man was indicted by a federal grand jury for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney W. Walter Wilkins said in a press release.

The indictment follows a search of 42-year-old Curtiss William Wright’s residence at 609 W. Broad St. home July 27 and the seizure and analysis of Wright’s computer media by law enforcement officers.

Police arrested Wright after acting on a tip about the crime, Darlington Police Capt. Danny Watson said in a previous interview.

While inside the home, officers found a small amount of marijuana and arrested the suspect. Police then seized his computer and took it to the State Law Enforcement Division’s computer lab to identify what was on it, Watson said.

The next day, police received information from SLED showing the computer had more than 12,000 pornographic images of young children performing sex acts on adults, Watson said.

Wright was charged July 28 with possession of obscene material, violating the computer crime act and second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, in addition to simple possession of marijuana with which he was charged July 27, the captain said.

Wright faces a $250,000 fine and 10 years in prison if convicted of the federal charge

Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Day II of the Florence office will prosecute the case, which also was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.