Pinehurst man arrested following child porn operation

PINEHURST –– A Pinehurst man was arrested Tuesday after a search warrant turned up hundreds of digital files containing sexually explicit images of children.  

Gregg McFarlane, 51, was taken into custody after admitting to having the images after the search warrant was executed at his Pinehurst apartment by various members of law enforcement belonging to the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC).  

According to the probable cause affidavit (PCA), police became aware of McFarlane’s actions after an IP address belonging to McFarlane was found to be downloading numerous files believed to be containing sexually explicit materials of children.  

Det. James Bohr with the Meridian Police and ICAC works on behalf of the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, where he monitors three undercover computers that scour the BitTorrent network for files containing exploitative material and child pornography.  

After Bohr’s computers alerted them to the activity associated with McFarlane’s IP address, he issued a subpoena to the internet service provider it was registered to who gave them the name Greg McFarland.  

According to court files, the images on McFarlane’s computer contained extremely graphic sexual content with victims between the assumed ages of one and nine years of age, these images and videos included both real photos and computer-generated materials.  

According to the PCA, McFarlane was taken from his residence to the Pinehurst Police Department where he was interviewed by two other officers with ICAC. Reportedly, during this interview, McFarlane admitted to recently downloading and viewing files depicting sexual abuse of a child. 

McFarlane is being charged with seven counts of possession of child sexually exploitative material and three counts of visual representation of sex abuse of a minor. The maximum penalty for these charges is 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine for each possession charge, and five years and a $5,000 fine for each of the visual representation charges.  

McFarlane is being held on $200,000 bond, his next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 31 at 8:30 a.m.