Lewiston man charged with having child porn

An 18-year-old man faces charges relating to allegedly having and distributing sexual material of children over Snapchat.

Wyatt S. Parris, of Lewiston, was charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, a felony, for allegedly having a video Aug. 15 exploiting a juvenile girl for sexual conduct and a video Dec. 18 allegedly showing a 3- to 5-year-old girl being used for sexual conduct. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison as well as a $10,000 fine for each charge.

Snapchat gave a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Aug. 17 for an incident of child sexual abuse material on the app, which was later believed to have occurred in Lewiston. The Idaho Attorney General’s Office was assigned the case and then it was given to the Lewiston Police Department, according to the probable cause affidavit.

A subpoena was served to Cableone-Sparklight to determine the IP address used by the Snapchat account and connected to an address in Lewiston. Investigators also received a date of birth from the suspect account that showed the person was 18 years old. Parris was allegedly linked to the account, the address in Lewiston and a cellphone. The investigation also noted that the user changed but the account had been active since 2020. The investigation found a conversation between two Snapchat users, one allegedly Parris, discussing child sexual images and exchanged sexually explicit images, according to the affidavit.

A search warrant for Parris’ home and car was given Monday and executed Wednesday. Lewiston police found Parris’ cellphone. Parris agreed to talk with Lewiston police investigators and FBI agents in the case and allegedly told them he had been receiving and distributing images and videos of children engaged in sex acts for the past few months. Police also found that the cellphone with Parris matched the Snapchat records, according to the affidavit.

Parris appeared Thursday before Magistrate Judge Victoria Olds at the Nez Perce County Courthouse. Olds ordered the bond to be set at $250,000, according to court documents.

Parris was appointed the State Public Defender as representation and his next court date is Dec. 30.