Child porn investigation leads to Vancouver man

A Vancouver man made his first appearance Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court after he was arrested on suspicion of 10 counts of child pornography possession.

Vancouver police arrested Steven Craig Holden, 27, on Tuesday, after an international child pornography investigation led to his house.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the Vancouver Police Department’s Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit began investigating the case Aug. 6. Local police were contacted by the Department of Homeland Security about a federal child pornography investigation, with authorities in New Zealand, involving users of a chat room website.

The investigation uncovered an internet protocol, or IP, address from the United States, which was traced to Holden’s home. Officers applied for a search warrant for his home and contacted him at a convenience store, where he stopped to grab a drink. Holden agreed to speak to investigators and was taken to a police station for an interview, the affidavit says.

There, according to court records, he admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography from the internet, and saving it on his two laptops. Officers then arrested him.

Police seized the laptops in the search of his home. A full examination of the devices was ongoing, according to court records, but investigators had found multiple depictions of children engaged in sex acts.

Holden’s bail was set at $10,000. His next court date is Aug. 29.