A Davis man was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday following his conviction on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
Alexander Nathan Norris, 28, of Davis, was found guilty by a federal jury back in May, more than six years after his arrest while living at the Greystone Apartments on Fifth Street.
In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller considered the seriousness of Norris’ offense and the “horrific nature” of some of the images Norris was selecting, as well as the fact that Norris had gained unauthorized access to his neighbor’s wireless internet router.
According to court documents, between Dec. 27, 2010, and April 12, 2011, law enforcement agents noticed someone sharing child pornography over the internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing software. One of the IP addresses the person was using was registered to an apartment in Davis where three female UC Davis students lived.
All three women denied accessing or distributing child pornography. With the residents’ permission, the agents used a computer program and a directional antenna to find the person involved in the file-sharing. This led them to Norris, who lived nearby in the same apartment complex and had gained unauthorized access to the students’ password‑protected network.
At the time of his arrest on April 12, 2011, Norris had child pornography on his computer, including files that he had distributed to law enforcement approximately four days earlier, authorities said.
Talbot said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.