Dresden Business Owner Arrested on Child Porn Charges
DRESDEN, Tenn.–Police arrested a Dresden business owner Thursday on child pornography charges. Craig Elliot Woodward, 48, is charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. Dresden police arrested him Thursday morning at Clockwork Screen Printing and Graphics. “We have grandkids and a lot of people around here has kids and I just don’t think it’s right,” said Danny Roney, who works in Dresden. “It’s not right.” According to a federal indictment, in January authorities say Woodward distributed inappropriate pictures of a child via the internet. Investigators say in May they found sexually explicit conduct on two of Woodward‘s laptops. Investigators say some of the children in the files were younger than 12-years-old. “They have a team that’s called ICAC. It’s internet crimes against children and evidently they received a hit from his computer and that got the ball rolling,” said Dresden Police Chief Randal Walker. Walker says his department will work with federal authorities to determine if there are any local victims. “Computers are a great technology and everything, but they also on the other end of the spectrum can be one of the worst things that could happen,” said Walker. The United States Attorney‘s Office says Woodward made his first court appearance on Thursday. He will remain in custody pending a detention hearing next Monday. If convicted, Woodward faces up to 20 years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. If convicted and following his sentence, Woodward could be under supervised release for the rest of his life.
