Casper Man Faces Child Porn Charges

Federal authorities accuse a Casper man of soliciting images and videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit acts according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court..

Robert William Cotter, born in 1984, was arrested in Casper on charges of receiving child pornography and producing child pornography.

If convicted on both counts he faces 20 to 50 years in federal prison and up to $750,000 in fines.

A criminal complaint filed in United States District Court in Casper, alleges U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a confidential informant in Riverton of Jan. 4 for production and distribution of child pornography.

The informant surrendered the login information for a Yahoo email account to investigators who subsequently found emails sent to a Gmail account.

Investigators identified the Gmail account as belonging to Cotter.

On Jan. 2 the informant sent an email to Cotter’s account depicting a female toddler performing sexual acts.

Cotter also sent an email to the informant requesting pictures of sexual acts being performed on a young male.

On Jan. 17, a federal judge authorized a search of the Gmail account. Investigators found Cotter owned the most recent Android device linked to the account.

On Cotter's Google account, investigators located a document titled “Robert’s Resume” that listed the Gmail address, his phone number and a Casper address.

Pings of the Android device indicated that it belonged to someone residing in Casper.

Following surveillance by Federal agents, Cotter was arrested on March 6.

A federal judge will determine whether Cotter will remain in detention until his trial.