Vancouver man pleads guilty to having child porn

A Vancouver man pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing child pornography he accessed through a peer network on the Internet.

Richard L. Walsh, 48, is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18 by Clark County Superior Court Judge Suzan Clark. His attorney, David Schultz of Camas, and Deputy Prosecutor Randy St. Clair said they will argue over whether Walsh should receive the low or high end of the standard sentencing range, which is 46 to 61 months. Walsh has no previous felony history.

Walsh pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

An undercover FBI database revealed that Walsh was sharing multiple child porn digital files between December 2011 and Feb. 13 of this year in a peer-to-peer network on the Internet, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court.

Peer-to-peer networks allow users connected to the Internet to link their computers and are commonly used for illegal activity, according to the FBI’s website.

Walsh was arrested after Vancouver police served a search warrant Feb. 13 at his home and seized 7,650 image files and 59 video files of child porn from his digital devices, the affidavit says.

He was originally charged with five counts of possession and five counts of dealing child porn, but the number of charges was reduced as part of a plea bargain.