| Newspaper | Jun 29, 2010 | Casper, Natrona Co., WY, USA, Porn suspect required to stay in jail
JOSHUA WOLFSON Casper Star-Tribune | Posted: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 12:00 am |
A Casper man charged with possessing child pornography should remain jailed pending further legal proceedings, a judge ruled Monday at a federal court hearing in Cheyenne.
Magistrate William C. Beaman also ordered the case against Alan Dean Houghton bound over to U.S. District Court, court papers show. If convicted of the possession charge, Houghton faces 10 to 20 years behind bars.
Federal agents arrested Houghton last week after searching his home and finding a laptop they said contained multiple images of child pornography. They also claim to have found text on the laptop that indicated Houghton had been using an Internet chat system to “discuss the sexual abuse of children” with others, according to an affidavit signed by Todd Smith, an FBI special agent and member of the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
The arrest came three months after Houghton, 50, completed his sentence in another federal case involving child sex crimes.
Authorities began to investigate Houghton after identifying an IP address suspected of being associated with the downloading of child pornography. Agents traced the IP address — a numeric label belonging to a computer connected to the Internet — to Houghton, according to Smith’s affidavit.
Federal public defender Daniel Blythe, who represents Houghton, declined comment when reached by phone Monday afternoon.
Houghton is listed on Wyoming’s Sex Offender Registry. U.S. District Judge William F. Downes sentenced him to more than six years in prison in 2002 for possession of child pornography and interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor, federal court documents show.
In 2007, Downes revoked his supervised release after a federal probation officer accused Houghton of being removed from a sex offender treatment program for multiple violations, including the viewing of sexually explicit material.
Downes ordered him to serve an additional year in prison, followed by two more years of supervised release, according to a copy of the order.
Houghton completed the sentence March 14, according to a notice filed by a federal probation officer.
Reporter Joshua Wolfson can be reached at 307-266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.
Posted in Wyoming on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 12:00 am |