Idaho man accused of possessing 1,000 child porn images charged in federal court

A Twin Falls man accused of taking pornographic images of a young girl relative was indicted this month by a federal grand jury meeting in Boise.

Stephen Roy Walker, 41, is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of children along with transportation and possession of child pornography.

Walker was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. A jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 16.

Federal prosecutors say Walker coerced the girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he took pictures of her. The indictment, which was filed Sept. 9, does not list the girl’s age but describes her as “prepubescent.”

The photos were taken in Texas between March 1, 2011, and Aug. 13 of that year, prosecutors said. Walker allegedly brought two laptop computers and an external hard drive containing the images to Idaho sometime between December 2011 and August 2012, the indictment claims.

Walker was originally arrested in February 2014 and charged in Twin Falls County District Court with 51 counts of possessing child pornography. The Twin Falls Times-News reported in its coverage of that case that Walker allegedly possessed more than 1,000 child porn images. The state charges were dismissed after the federal grand jury indicted Walker.

If convicted, Walker faces 15 to 30 years on each of the sexual exploitation charges, five to 20 years for transportation of the images and up to 20 years on the charge of possession of child porn.

The government also seeks the forfeiture of the two computers, the external hard drive and a camera used to take the images.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Idaho man accused of possessing 1,000 child porn images charged in federal court."