Pinehurst man pleads guilty in child porn case

WALLACE – A Pinehurst man pleaded guilty to three child pornography charges on Monday morning.  

51-year-old Gregg McFarlane pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child sexually exploitative material and one count of visual representation of sex abuse of a minor. As part of his plea deal, he will serve a minimum of three years in prison for his crimes.  

Initially charged with seven counts of possession of child sexually exploitative material and three counts of visual representation of sex abuse of a minor. Each exploitative material charge carried a maximum 10-year prison sentence, while the visual representation charges each carried a maximum five-year prison sentence.    

The case was handled by Deputy Attorney General James Haws with the Idaho Attorney General’s office, who offered the reduced sentence in exchange for McFarlane’s guilty plea. As part of the agreement, each count comes with a three-year fixed sentence, but any indeterminate time and the way McFarlane serves that sentence will depend on the results of a psycho-sexual evaluation (PSE). 

Should McFarlane’s PSE determine him to be a low risk to re-offend, he will serve his sentences concurrently. However, if he is classified as moderate to high risk, he will serve his sentences consecutively.  

McFarlane was arrested in October of last year after a search warrant was executed at his residence by a task force organized by the Idaho Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC). According to court records, 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.    

During the raid on his home, police reportedly discovered hundreds of images on McFarlane’s computer containing 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 probable cause affidavit, following his arrest, McFarlane admitted to downloading and viewing the images. However, during his hearing on Monday, he alleged that he never viewed the images.  

McFarlane’s sentencing is scheduled for April 28.