Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A North Carolina man accused of sexually molesting a minor was sentenced June 10 to 30 years in prison for making child pornography, federal prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said Raul Ayala Jr., 72, of Angier pleaded guilty to the charges in April.

Court documents and other information show Ayala admitted to molesting the child for a couple of years and had taken some nude photographs of the child, but insisted they were innocent photographs. In addition, Ayala admitted he had molested children in the 1970s, according to the documents.

A search warrant executed at Ayala’s residence turned up multiple digital devices and a briefcase that contained adult pornography and child pornography, according to the news release. Also in the briefcase were pictures of nude minor children dating back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, authorities said. On the digital devices, law enforcement found images of the child who disclosed sexual abuse along with child pornography unrelated to the child.

Agents with Homeland Security Investigators identified one of the males who affirmed he was in the photos and that Ayala molested and photographed him, beginning when he was 8 years old, authorities said.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

RECENT HEADLINES:

North Carolina man sentenced to 10 years in prison for firearm charge

North Carolina man sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug, firearm charges