Davidson County man pleads to child porn charges
Sep. 30—TRIAD — A Davidson County man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised probation after being convicted on a federal charge of possession of child pornography.
Kevin Richard Heidel, 38, who was a registered sex offender, was identified in 2019 by investigators from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office after a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed that an Instagram user in Davidson County was suspected of uploading images of child pornography to the platform, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release.
In December 2019, sheriff's office investigators executed a search warrant at Heidel's residence and found a cellphone that contained child pornography, the press release said. Further investigation revealed child pornography on another phone belonging to Heidel that was found in the front yard of one of Heidel's neighbors.
The case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro.
Heidel is the second registered sex offender from the Piedmont Triad to be sentenced this month.
On Sept. 22, Luis Armando Diaz-Otero, 33, of Randolph County, was sentenced to 12 1/2 years imprisonment followed by 20 years of supervised release after being convicted of possession of child pornography. He was arrested after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding a Google account.
