United States v. Carroll, No. 13-2600 (7th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseA 13-year-old girl reported that she had been molested by Carroll, her father’s co-worker, when she was eight years old. Detective Spivey presented a search warrant affidavit in which he explained his 16 years of experience; that child pornography collectors retain their collections because the images supply sexual gratification, are difficult to obtain, and are used to obtain new images, so that it is common to find discarded or outdated computers; and that deleted images may be retrieved years later. The victim reported that Carroll had touched her in a sexual way and shown her sexual images of younger children on his camera. She believed he had taken pictures of her bare genitalia. She did not open her eyes, but Carroll and her father were the only adults in the residence and Carroll was a professional photographer. The father indicated that Carroll took his camera from the office to his residence on a daily basis and used electronic devices in conjunction with one another. The judge found probable cause and issued the warrant. Analysis of Carroll’s computer and other digital media found in his residence revealed numerous images of the victim in various states of undress engaged in sexually explicit conduct. During the search Carroll made incriminating statements. Carroll unsuccessfully moved to suppress, arguing that the information in Spivey’s affidavit was stale. He then pled guilty to possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B), and six counts of sexual exploitation of a child, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) and was sentenced to 360 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed.
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