Warrant Issued for Eagan Child Pornography Suspect

A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for an Eagan man charged with possessing child pornography.

Nicoantonio James Gould, 27, faces four felony charges of possession of pornography involving minors, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began investigating individuals in September 2010 who were offering to distribute child pornography on the Internet.

On Sept. 30, 2010, the forensic investigation pinpointed a computer in Eagan with a folder containing 192 files, 67 of which matched suspected child pornography values, the complaint says.

Subsequent investigations led authorities to the same computer in Eagan, and a search warrant was executed at the Eagan home on Dec. 15, 2010.

Officers spoke to the homeowner, who said he knew nothing about any child pornography. He told authorities that Gould was his roommate, and might be using the computer to download the illegal images.

Officers interviewed Gould at work. He admitted to authorities that he used a network to search for and download child pornography, and told them that they would find “hundreds” of child pornography images on his computer, along with 20 videos, some of which showed adults having sex with children, according to the complaint.

Authorities subsequently examined the contents of Gould’s computer and found hundreds of images of child erotica and pornography, the complaint says.

The images were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,which identified 52 images as known victims of child sexual abuse, including victims from Missouri, Connecticut  and California.

Gould’s whereabouts are unknown. Anyone with information on him should contact local police.