Youngstown man faces fed child-porn charge

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A South Side man faces a federal child-pornography charge.

FBI agents took into custody Nickie Thomas Gray Jr., 43, of East Philadelphia Avenue, after they interviewed him Thursday, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court’s Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland.

He faces a single count of receiving or distributing child pornography. He is in custody and scheduled for a detention hearing Monday, according to federal court records.

The affidavit said an investigation by an undercover FBI agent in the Youngstown office that began Sept. 25 used a computer program that traces child-pornography images on the Internet. It tracked a person in Youngstown who was sharing child-pornography files online.

The affidavit said the investigation found child pornography seven times on that computer between Sept. 25 and Feb. 7. The FBI managed to trace the computer to an address on East Philadelphia.

A search warrant was served at the home, which was when Gray was interviewed. The affidavit said Gray told agents he could not remember the last time he looked at child pornography but he did look at something online the night before that he said “was very disturbing.”

Mahoning County court records show criminal activity involving Gray dating back to 1995 on charges such as carrying a concealed weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and domestic violence, although a felony count of domestic violence in 2011 was dismissed.