A retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisory special agent was found guilty by a federal jury Thursday on two felony counts of receiving child pornography.
According to U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy’s office, retired CBP agent Lawson Hardrick, 64, of Calexico, Calif., was found guilty in a San Diego court.
Hardrick is accused of receiving images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to evidence presented at trial, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security investigators say Hardrick used peer-to-peer file-sharing programs to exchange child pornography with others.
From 2008 to 2010, investigators say he received sexually explicit videos of children as young as four and nine years old. His indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury in San Diego in July 2012.
Hardrick’s sentencing is scheduled for Apr. 29.
The former CBP special agent faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison with a five-year mandatory sentence, a $250,000 fine and five years to a lifetime of supervised release. Hardrick is also required register as a sex offender.
Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego