Man charged in child porn
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah filed one count of possession of child pornography against Paul Lawrence Briggs, 58.
According to the charging document and police, a man matching Briggs' description left the Denny's restaurant, 250 W. 500 South, when he dropped his portable digital device. This action was captured on the restaurant's security video system.
A customer discovered the device and turned it over to the manager, who, in an attempt to discover who its owner was, ran across images and videos of adults having sex with minors and minors having sex with minors. Two memory cards found in the device case also contained child pornography.
Leads from the surveillance video lead to Briggs' arrest Tuesday. Court records show Briggs has a lengthy criminal history, including a 1998 conviction of attempted sex abuse of a child.
According to charging documents, Briggs told FBI agents he had downloaded the pornography onto his computer before he went to prison and had recorded the files onto a data CD. He then picked up the CD among his personal possessions when he was released from the state prison. He later downloaded the files onto his portable player, which he bought at a pawn shop.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison with a 10-year mandatory sentence.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com
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