Man accused of sharing child porn

Jan. 23--A man convicted of a child sex crime in the 1990s was arrested Wednesday and accused of sharing two videos of young children being sexually abused, the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office said.

Martin Van Driver, 55, of Townhouse Way in Gamewell is accused of uploading the videos to the internet and sending them to another person, Lt. Shelly Hartley said.

One of the videos is more than nine minutes long and shows naked girls who appear to be under 12 being sexually abused, according to a magistrate's order.

The other video, which is more than six minutes long, shows a girl who appears to be between 4 and 8 being abused and also shows a boy about 10 and a girl about 12 "engaged in sexual activity," according to a second magistrate's order.

Where the videos came from and who they were sent to are under investigation, Hartley said.

Driver is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. His bond was set at $500,000 secured.

Driver was convicted in 1990 of indecent liberties with a child, according to court records. No information about what he was accused of doing was available Thursday.

The victim in that case reported the incident on Oct. 1, 1989. Driver was arrested on May 30, 1990, and he pleaded guilty on Dec. 13, 1990, and was sentenced to five years of supervised probation.

However, on Feb. 19, 1992, someone reported being raped by Driver, records show. He was arrested the next day and charged with second-degree rape. He pleaded guilty Sept. 21, 1992, to a reduced charge of attempted second-degree rape.

Despite these convictions, he was not registered as a sex offender because he was released from prison on Dec. 19, 1995. If he had been released on or after Jan. 1, 1996, he would have been required to register as a sex offender, Hartley said.

The law creating the sex offender registry was passed in 1995 and took effect Jan. 1, 1996.

Pam Storie, a neighbor who lives on Townhouse Way, said Thursday that while she had known Driver had spent time in prison, she didn't know what for, and she was surprised when officers showed up on Wednesday. She said Driver seemed quiet, well educated, extremely clean and hard working -- he often seemed to work seven days a week.

Cory Barrett, another neighbor, said he saw officers raid Driver's apartment. He saw them come out carrying a clear bag with electronics in it, as well as a brown paper bag.

Reporter Kara Fohner can be reached at 828-610-8721.

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