Former fireman found guilty of sex crimes 

Published 2:00 pm Friday, November 20, 2020

A former Middlesboro city fireman was found guilty on charges of child pornography on Monday.

Robert Christopher England, 35, was found guilty on four counts following a jury trial in United States District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky in London.

The original three-count indictment was filed on Oct. 25, 2018. A superseding indictment was filed on March 21, 2019, which added a fourth count.

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According to the superseding indictment, on or about May 13, 2018, England “did knowingly receive a visual depiction that had been shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce, by any means including by computer, the production of such visual depiction having involved the use of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”

Count four of the superseding indictment states England knowingly possessed a laptop computer which contained visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to the verdict form, a jury found England guilty on all four counts included in the superseding indictment. This included three counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

England is scheduled to be sentenced on March 16, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. at the Federal Courthouse in London, Ky.

According to a previous report, police launched an investigation into a report that England had exposed himself to a child in a Walmart restroom.  Following police questioning, co-workers stated England may have been deleting items from his work computer. Permission was then given by the mayor and fire chief for the police to examine the computer, at which time child pornography was allegedly found on the computer.