Glade Valley Man Is Sentenced To 22 Years In Prison For Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - James Matthew Johnson, 36, of Glade Valley, N.C., was sentenced to 22 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release today for producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Johnson was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

Cardell T. Morant, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina, and Chief Andy LeBeau of the Boone Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today's announcement.

According to court documents and the sentencing hearing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a tip that an individual later identified as Johnson was uploading CSAM to a cloud. Law enforcement initiated an investigation and identified the defendant. In June 2023, law enforcement obtained and executed a search warrant, seizing Johnson's electronic devices. A forensic analysis of the devices revealed that Johnson possessed CSAM, including more than 200 images and 300 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as toddlers. The cell phone analysis further revealed that Johnson had also produced CSAM of a minor victim that included images and videos where the minor victim appeared to be intoxicated. Court records show that, during an interview with law enforcement, Johnson admitted that the minor victim was unaware that Johnson was producing CSAM of the sexual abuse.

On March 22, 2024, Johnson pleaded guilty to production of child pornography. He is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In announcing Johnson's sentence, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell said, "these offenses are serious, and the Court takes them seriously."

The investigation was handled by HSI and the Boone Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Cervantes of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.