Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Child Abuse Unit obtained a conviction against a defendant who had over one hundred images of child pornography on his cell phones.  Randy Dale Reynolds, 56, pled guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.  Under the terms of the agreement, Judge Steve Sword sentenced Reynolds to serve ten years in prison without the possibility of parole.

In a plea colloquy, Assistant District Attorney Ashley McDermott explained to the Court that in September 2019, Reynolds was in General Sessions Court facing an unrelated charge.  In an effort to defend against that charge, Reynolds’ defense attorney at the time requested that law enforcement examine the contents of some cell phones seized from Reynolds.  After Reynolds gave consent to search the phones, Knoxville Police Department Investigator Phil Jinks conducted a forensic extraction of the phones.  While examining the contents of the phones, Inv. Jinks discovered the phones contained numerous images of child pornography.  The phones were further processed by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who confirmed known images of child pornography.

“Not only are these children victimized when the images are made, they are re-victimized every time the images are downloaded, shared, or viewed,” said DA Charme Allen.  “We have a special responsibility to protect child victims and to hold their offenders accountable.”