Computer dealings with undercover police investigators in New Zealand led the FBI to search a Clarkesville address and to arrest a Rabun County man for child pornography.
Agents with the FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 35-year-old Christopher Welcher at a home on Buckhorn Circle just north of the Habersham County line on Friday. Special Agent Stephen Emmett of the FBI’s Atlanta field office confirms, “A search took place at that location and resulted in federal charges for possession of child pornography.”
According to court documents, agents found “in excess of 255,000 images of child and adult pornography” on Welcher’s external hard drives and “in excess of 300 images of child pornography” on his smartphone during Friday’s search.
In the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, FBI Special Agent Mark Sewell says Welcher first appeared on investigators’ radar because he used the file-sharing website GigaTribe and, with the username “Auralextc,” struck up an online conversation with an undercover cop in New Zealand last July.
Authorities say they accessed 10 folders of what they determined to be child porn on Auralextc’s computer. New Zealand police subpoenaed records from the suspect’s internet service provider, Windstream Communications, and tracked the computer ID and alias to Welcher at a home on Buckhorn Circle, which is a Clarkesville address. The evidence was then sent to U.S. authorities.
The complaint also states that an FBI agent in Minneapolis was able to access Welcher’s computer through the file-sharing site and documented pornographic photos of underage girls in the various files. Some of the girls may have been as young as three years old.
During Friday’s search Welcher reportedly admitted to GBI agents that he possessed child pornography and was the owner of the online account being investigated. According to court documents he said he first came into possession of child pornography while working as a computer repairman and would “steal child pornography from a customer’s computer if the customer’s computer contained child pornography.”
Also included in the federal complaint are computer chat sessions authorities claim Welcher had with an undercover officer in which he reportedly commented, “I like 10-14 yrs.” and “I keep it hidden well as society believes those that think like me are sick perverts.”
Welcher has a Preliminary/Detention Hearing set for Wednesday morning at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Gainesville. He is currently being held in the Hall County Jail without bond.
Updated 6/22/15 @ 7:55pm
