Man charged for child pornography, claims to be former Wilkes Co. sheriff's deputy

ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — A four month undercover investigation in Alexander County led to the arrest of a man accused of sending dozens of photos and videos of child pornography.

The suspect told investigators he was a former law enforcement officer in Wilkes County.

Officers in Alexander County arrested and charged 75-year-old Thomas Phillips with more than 40 counts of felony disseminating obscenity.

Phillips is expected to appear before a judge Monday.

Sheriff Chris Bowman said two of his deputies underwent specialized training to find people sending child pornography online.

Deputies say the images in this case involve children between the ages of eight and 15, including some even younger.

"For something like this to go on here in our county or in any county is just sickening," Bowman said.

The images were found on several different computers and phones.

When Reporter Dave Faherty spoke with Phillips, he denied using the equipment to send the graphic images.

Investigators are going through the computers and cell phones they seized from Phillip's home in Wilkes County, where he claims he at one time worked as a sheriff's deputy.

Phillips said he is denying the allegations that he did anything wrong and would not answer any of our questions if he was at one time a sheriff deputy.

"I don't know what they've got or what they found," Phillips said.

Officials in Alexander County say deputies are still trying to determine who the children are in the photos and if Phillips worked as a deputy.

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