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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Former Kid Party Santa |Cops Plea to Child Porn

(CN) - A North Carolina man who worked as a Santa Claus and magician for kid's parties pleaded guilty Wednesday to producing child pornography featuring his grandchildren.

Leander Dewey Jones, 64, entered his plea before Senior U.S. District Judge James Fox in Raleigh Federal Court.

Prosecutors said they learned of Jones's activities on May, 29, 2015, after he brought his desktop computer to a local repair shop.

While examining the computer hard drive for viruses and malware, a computer technician located a folder containing child porn, authorities said.

The technician told his boss what he'd found, and his boss called the Raleigh Police Department.

After a search warrant was obtained, a forensic examination of Jones's computer and external hard drives found in his home turned up 4,000 images of child porn, prosecutors said.

Another 1,000 child porn images were found on compact discs and floppy discs, they said.

Jones's sentencing is now scheduled for Aug. 1, 2016. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

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