NK man faces 34 felony child pornography counts

Computer images of children as young as toddlers engaging in sex acts with other children and adults are the basis of 34 felony child pornography charges leveled against a New Kent County man.

Investigators have collected more than 3,700 images, most relating to child pornography, from computers seized at Michael J. Conyngham’s home. Also found were 17 movies depicting child porn.

Conyngham, 56, of 5501 Ridgewood Drive, has been indicted on 30 counts of possession of child pornography and four counts of child pornography distribution by a New Kent Circuit Court grand jury. Sealed indictments were handed up by the grand jury on March 17. The documents were unsealed last Wednesday following Conyngham’s arrest at his home.

Investigators, meanwhile, have been more than two years in building their case against Conyngham. The 30 possession charges stem from 2005 while the four distribution counts date back to 2003.

“Trying to get forensic analysis of computers is a slow process,” county Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory said in an interview last week.

Court documents reveal events began to unfold in November 2003 when Conyngham allegedly uploaded several images to an Internet web site. A cyber-tip from Yahoo! eventually led investigators to Conyngham.

Then on Aug. 9, 2005, an investigator with the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning another Yahoo! cyber-tip. An individual in Pennsylvania had uploaded child porn through a Yahoo! group and again investigators followed a trail to Conyngham.

Armed with a search warrant, New Kent sheriff’s personnel seized several computers along with external hard drives, dozens of compact discs, VHS tapes, film, and other items from Conyngham’s house on Dec. 5, 2005.

Then came the time-consuming task of analyzing and cataloging what investigators found on the computers. And there were several delays and dead ends.

During a bond hearing for Conyngham on Monday, Gregory said after State Police turned down the task, the computers were sent to Hanover County police where a certified forensic computer examiner is on staff. But the machines were returned six months later with word the examiner did not have time to conduct an investigation. The same scenario played out after the computers were sent to Williamsburg police, Gregory said.

Eventually, New Kent authorities delivered the computers to the Regional Organized Crime Information Center in Nashville, Tenn. where they remained on a waiting list for five months. The actual examination process then took almost seven months. Results were forwarded to New Kent this past February.

New Kent investigators then chose what they term as the worst of the 3,700 computer images as basis for the 30 possession counts.

Conyngham was being held in Henrico Jail East on $100,000 bond after his arrest last week. During Monday’s hearing, bond was reduced to $50,000. The defendant was scheduled for release either later that day or the next day.

Conyngham was ordered to surrender his passport along with a concealed weapons permit and have no contact with children. All firearms have been removed from the defendant’s residence, his attorney, Charles Gavin, told the court.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover suggested an April or May trial date, but Gavin argued for more time to prepare, citing a need for his own forensic specialist to examine the computer evidence.

Hoover agreed to a July 14 trial date. A decision on whether Conyngham stands trial before a jury or a judge will be made at a later date. The state Attorney General’s office will assist in the prosecution, Gregory said.