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North Carolina Youth Coach Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Material

Nathaniel Willard Byrd was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison followed by 30 years of supervised release, according to court documents.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 20, 2026, 10:23 a.m. ET
On August 13, 2026, Nathaniel Willard Byrd, 38, a youth coach from Hudson, North Carolina, was to 121 months in prison and 30 years of supervised release for receiving child sexual abuse material, according to an official announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina. Byrd pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2025 and remains in federal custody pending designation to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in this developing case. According to court documents and the sentencing hearing, law enforcement identified an internet user storing child sexual abuse material on a cloud account and executed a search warrant at Byrd's residence on October 30, 2024, seizing his cellphone. Byrd admitted to investigators that he downloaded the material. A forensic review of the phone revealed the BitTorrent file-sharing application and more than 1,300 files depicting child sexual abuse, including 278 videos. Court documents note that the files included videos depicting children between two and 12 years old, as well as the torture of an 18-month-old child. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson stated, "Of all people who should not be fueling the trade of videos depicting the torture of children, a youth coach should be at the top of the list." The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Spaugh as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006. Law enforcement support was provided by Homeland Security Investigations, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Boone Police Department, and the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office.

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  1. Version 120 Aug 2026, 14:23current

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