CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) -- Investigators said a Bible school teacher had pornographic images and videos of children on his computer.
Gerald Lee Porter, 70, faces federal charges that came after separate investigations by the Chesapeake Police Department, the Bedford County Sheriff's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations Innocent Images Task Force.
Detective James Gainer with the police department said in an affidavit that he and people with the other two agencies monitored a Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing network.
Investigators were able to find files containing child pornography and trace them to an IP address. The detective stated that they confirmed that the IP address was registered to Porter.
Gainer said investigators executed a search warrant at Porter's home on May 9. Gainer and an agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) interviewed Porter after reading him his rights.
Gainer stated in court documents that Porter admitted he had an external hard drive that he got from a "coworker" about two years ago that contained child pornography. Porter noticed the pornography and said the he wanted to delete it on several occasions but did not.
The detective went on to say that the bible school teacher admitted he used P2P software, mainly Shareaza. Porter told Gainer and the agent that he used keywords including "Sandra Teen" whom he described as a clothed 10-year-old to 18-year-old female model. He also used the keyword "kids."
Gainer wrote: "When asked what he thought he would get when he looked up 'kids,' Porter further stated he was looking for images of kids in shorts."
Among the pornographic videos found on Porter's hard drive was one showing a girl who was approximately 7 years old and naked from the waist down. The girl was on her back, and a man had his genitalia on her. The court documents note the file was saved to the hard drive on January 12, 2017.
A video found in second folder showed another young girl performing sexual acts upon herself.
Porter is a longtime member of River Oak Church in Great Bridge where he volunteered as a Bible school teacher working with children from kindergarten to fifth grade.
The pastor of the church told 13News Now that Porter most recently taught fifth graders on the weekend. He added the church never received a complaint about Porter.
A federal court granted Porter a $25,000 bond Monday. He must meet several conditions before he cant post bond and be released, including staying in Chesapeake, agreeing to wear electronic GPS monitoring, promising to avoid all contact with any victims or potential witnesses, staying away from any computer or internet, and enrolling a mental health, sex offender program treatment.
Porter has been indicted for his possession of child pornography on June 13. He faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.