An Austin couple accused of downloading hundreds of child-pornography images onto their computers each received identical bail from a Mower County judge on Thursday.
Owen Thurston Stevenson Jr., 53, and Daralyn Marie Herrald, 24, each appeared in Mower District Court on 25 felony counts of possessing pornographic work involving minors, with each count related to a specific video file or photographic image.
Each count also is for a separate, alleged child victim, Judge Fred Wellmann said in court.
Wellmann set bail for Stevenson and Herrald each at $100,000 without conditions or $25,000 with conditions, such as that they can't have contact with anyone under age 18 — including their children — and can't have access to the Internet.
State and local law-enforcement officers conducted a search warrant Jan. 5, 2009, at Stevenson and Herrald's apartment at 705 W. Oakland Ave. The search warrant came after an undercover investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department in relation to people sharing child pornography online.
According to the criminal complaint, a forensic analysis in July of the couple's computers found 1,079 images and 29 movie files of child pornography.
Officials at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children then reported in September that — out of all those images — 220 images and five video files depicted known child victims.
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Originally Posted by Gidget
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