Raleigh Man Sentenced for Transporting and Possessing Child Pornography

<_w3a_listitem listvalue="RALEIGH" datavalue="RALEIGH"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="GREENVILLE" datavalue="GREENVILLE"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="NEW BERN" datavalue="NEW BERN"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="WILMINGTON" datavalue="WILMINGTON"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="ELIZABETH CITY" datavalue="ELIZABETH CITY">WILMINGTON, N.C. - A Raleigh man was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for transporting and possessing child pornography after more than 1,000 images were found on his digital devices.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Nico Aaron Lowers, 24 was investigated by the Raleigh Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security after receiving a lead from Chesapeake, Virginia. Law enforcement in Virginia received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a Google user uploading child pornography. The information in the cybertip led law enforcement to search Lowers' parents' residence in Virginia. Finding no contraband on any digital device, Lowers' parents mentioned their adult son had recently moved to Raleigh.

Officers from the Raleigh Police Department and agents from Homeland Security located Lowers in Raleigh and asked him about the investigation that had taken place in Virginia. Lowers denied having any knowledge of child pornography and consented to a search of his cellular device. Within the deleted files in his cell phone, law enforcement found multiple child pornography videos depicting the rape and torture of an infant. Based upon that finding, law enforcement executed a search warrant at his Raleigh residence and seized other digital devices.

Once all his digital devices were forensically examined, law enforcement found over 1,000 images and 36 videos that depicted child sexual abuse material. Lowers admitted to downloading child sexual abuse material and admitted to bringing a flash drive that contained child sexual abuse material to North Carolina from Virginia. Lowers' collection of images and videos included very young children, infants, and toddlers, as well as images depicting sadistic and masochistic conduct.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after the sentencing was concluded. <_w3a_listitem listvalue="Choose an item."><_w3a_listitem listvalue="U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle" datavalue="U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan" datavalue="U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III" datavalue="U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II" datavalue="Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Senior U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt" datavalue="Senior U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt"><_w3a_listitem listvalue="Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard" datavalue="Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard">Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II presided over the sentencing. The Raleigh Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charity Wilson 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 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:22-CR-178-M.