Former Moore Co. education leader faces prison term in child porn case

The former chairman of the Moore County Board of Education was sentenced to seven years in prison Monday for the possession of child pornography.

David Camp, 44, of Stewart Hollow Road, Lynchburg, was sentenced in Chattanooga by District Court Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr..

Camp, who was chairman of the Moore County School Board for three years, ending in 2008, will also have to register as a sexual offender.

He could have received as much as a 10-year sentence on the charges and will be on supervised probation for life.

Defense attorney Brandon D. Raulston filed a motion last week asking for a lower sentence, stating that the guideline sentence in the case "over-represents the seriousness of the offense to which the Defendant has been convicted."

Raulston also noted Camp received "numerous letters submitted on behalf of the Defendant " that indicated "that he is highly regarded by various members of the community based upon their personal experiences..."

Camp also "has been actively involved in the community from services ranging from his position on the Moore County School Board to his role as an administrator with local youth sports leagues," Raulston wrote.

However, United States Attorney James R. Dedrick and Assistant U. S. Attorney James Brooks stated in court filings that Camp's "positive role

in the community and employment history, when weighed against the significant harm caused by the defendant's participation in child pornography, are effectively neutralized."

According to a criminal complaint filed last year in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, Camp used a computer on or about Feb. 18, 2009, to distribute images with "children engaged in sexually explicit activities."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Hendrix filed an affidavit last July alleging that agents in Los Angeles found a web site that allowed small "thumbnail" images to be posted and which had "numerous links to various adult pornography websites."

The affidavit claims that the web site also had a chat feature.

Hendrix alleges that Camp uploaded 12 child pornographic pictures to the site that were intercepted by the ICE agents in Los Angeles.

The affidavit also states that during a chat, Camp provided a cell phone number that was registered to him and that the computer's IP (Internet Protocol) address was also registered to Camp.

When Camp was interviewed by ICE agents last year "he stated and admitted that he had been receiving and distributing pornographic images of children for the last 5 years up to and including the previous night of July 1, 2009," the affidavit stated.

Camp also admitted using the web site to receive and distribute the images.