Raleigh – The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced ROBIN CHRISTOPHER HILDRED, 47, of Raleigh to 360 months’ imprisonment, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. HILDRED pled guilty on April 15, 2019 to one count of manufacturing child
A 2018 undercover investigation into an online chat group known to be discussing and distributing child pornography encountered a target on the site who expressed sexual interest in infants and toddlers and who was sharing child pornography links and photos. An HSI Administrative Subpoena established the IP address of the target, which resolved to HILDRED’s residence in Raleigh, NC.
A federal magistrate judge issued a search warrant for the premises and, on November 23, 2018, the search warrant was executed by Homeland Security Investigations, Raleigh P.D., and Cary P.D. HILDRED was present during the search and agreed to speak with investigators. During the interview, HILDRED admitted to downloading and storing child pornography and also admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs of his 20-month old daughter.
Forensic examination of devices seized from HILDRED’s home uncovered 2299 image files and 12 video files of child pornography, and confirmed that the sexually explicit images of his daughter were produced by HILDRED’s phone and were created in his home on multiple dates from December 2017 to April 2018. Forensics also revealed multiple instances in which he shared images of child pornography—including the sexually explicit pictures of his daughter—with others.
Higdon commented:“Robin Christopher Hildred is a predator who victimized countless children through his distribution and possession of child pornography. But, perhaps even worse, he preyed upon his own vulnerable daughter. The man that should have been caring for and protecting her, exploit her in the most disgusting and tragic way. Today’s sentence ensures he cannot victimize any more children for the next 30 years.”
This case is part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national initiative, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The investigation of this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Raleigh Police Department, the Cary Police Department, the Boone Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and United States Marshalls Service. Assistant United States
Attorneys Melissa Belle Kessler and Bryan M. Stephany represented the government.