Man admits child porn addiction during Border Patrol application process, Justice Dept. says

A U.S. Magistrate Judge found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging 34-year-old William Allen Patterson, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, with federal child pornography charges.

Patterson, arrested August 10, 2016, will remain in custody pending trial.

A criminal complaint alleges, that in between 2002 and 2012, Patterson possessed and received visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into Patterson began in August 2016 when Patterson allegedly admitted to a polygraph examiner he was addicted to child pornography. At the time, Patterson was undergoing a polygraph examination as part of the application process to be a Border Patrol Agent.

On August 9, 2016, law enforcement searched Patterson’s residence and allegedly found a hard drive containing at least 10,000 images of child pornography.

If convicted on the receipt of child pornography charge, Patterson faces a statutory penalty of a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.

If convicted on the possession of child pornography charge, Patterson faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.