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Court papers allege Gastonia man used Xbox to prey on kids

GASTONIA, NC — Court papers in the federal case against a Gastonia man allege he used the Xbox gaming system and social media to solicit nude pictures from children as young as 9 across the country.

The court papers say Benjamin Godwin Swanson pretended to be both girls and boys as he contacted juveniles through the online gaming feature of the Xbox system.

The details were gut-wrenching to people in the quiet town of Lawndale where Swanson lived just before he was arrested and charged

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"It's just a horrible thought to think that someone would do something like that," resident Cheryl Lattimore said.

In 2010, Swanson was convicted in Florida of promoting a sexual performance by a child. He was released from prison in 2014 and moved to North Carolina.

David Windon lives in the house Swanson moved to after he was released.

"To find out someone was living in your house like that, it's just wild," Windon said.

Between 2014 and 2015, he allegedly pretended to be a teenage girl named Jessica or her brother and convinced his victims to send him nude photos of themselves via a fake Facebook page.

The plea indicates that in less than a year Swanson connected with a 10-year-old in Georgia, another 10-year-old from Oregon, an 11-year-old in Ohio, a 14-year-old in Pennsylvania and three teens in Missouri.

Swanson was caught when one of the victims' parents discovered the communications and contacted police.

Windon said those details made him think twice about the stuff he found when he moved into Swanson's former home.

"A whole box in the garage of computer gadgets and mini camera(s) and stuff like that," Windon said.

The plea agreement doesn't give details of the charges that Swanson is pleading guilty to or the sentence he will receive. A spokesperson said those details won't be released until a court date is set.

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