Utah state investigators have discovered 23,000 illicit images of nude girls on electronic devices and DVDs in the possession of a Vernal man, whose home was decorated with disturbing, yet “technically legal” anime pornographic images, authorities announced Tuesday.
Andrew Derek Walden, 31, is in jail without bail, facing 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies, according to court documents. His arrest followed a Feb. 19 search of his home by the Utah Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
“Walden is suspected of downloading and distributing child pornography and sharing files containing child pornography via the Freenet peer-to-peer network,” the Attorney General’s Office wrote in a news release. In addition to thousands of digital images, the home contained posters, magazines, and a computer mouse pad that featured sexually explicit anime images of young children.
“The content that’s specifically concerning to us is the child pornography anime,” said ICAC Commander Alan White. “If a person is into child pornographic anime, it’s not a huge step to get into child pornography itself, or for that matter to abuse a child.”
The search also discovered that Walden holds numerous passports and he has traveled extensively outside the country, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the charges in Utah’s 8th District Court in Vernal. Accordingly, he is considered a flight risk, as well as a danger to the community, authorities said.