Winfield man arrested on child porn charges

Matthew Roberts

Article contributed by The Journal Record

By Michael E. Palmer
Staff Writer

 WINFIELD - A Winfield man was charged with four counts of dissemination of child pornography after an investigation by the Joint Electronic Crimes Task Force, the State Bureau of Investigation and the Winfield Police Department.

  Winfield Police Chief Brett Burleson said Matthew Roberts, 33, Winfield, was arrested on May 6 during the execution of a search warrant at Roberts’ apartment.

An investigator in the Electronic Crimes Task Force located in Tuscaloosa alerted the Winfield PD that Roberts had downloaded child pornography onto his home computer through a file sharing service, Burleson said.

Burleson said Winfield Police investigator Rusty Hulsey obtained a warrant to search Roberts’ apartment located in the Shadow Woods Apartment located at 225 Regal Street in Winfield.
A computer, external hard drives, and a phone were removed from the apartment.

Burleson said no local minors were involved or depicted in the material that brought the charges and no other arrests were made related to the case.

Burleson said more charges against Roberts are likely to follow after the devices are further examined.

“It may take a month to get the devices analyzed but once we get that done there are going to be other charges to follow,” Burleson said.

Roberts is being held in the Marion County Jail in Hamilton on a $150,000 bond.

(When a defendant is charged with a crime, the charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.)