(Memphis) An East Memphis community is in shock after learning one of their neighbors is in jail for child pornography.
Jerry Nance is married with a child and an Army national guardsman.
That’s why some find it difficult to accept police have charged him with having more than 100 pictures of child porn on his computer.
Memphis Police say they received a complaint that Nance, a man who lives in a townhouse on S. Yates, was sending child porn through his email account.
“That will be a shock to the whole neighborhood,” said Neighbor Wanda Pounders.
Police say he had pictures of children as young as two years old being raped by adult men.
“I am glad he is in jail. It’s where he needs to be,” said Neighbor Barbara Sherman.
After a tip to the police department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, a forensic team searched his home computer and say they found more than 100 sexually explicit pictures of children.
They children ranged from eight years old to as young as two.
Investigators say they found the most disturbing pictures on his personal cell phone.
“In their thinking, they believe they are not committing a crime,” said Dr. Jeffrey Freiden, who counsels many of Shelby County’s sex offenders. “They believe in their mind that it is just a picture so it`s a not a real victim or they tell themselves the victim is asking for it or they blame the victim.”
Dr. Freiden says many sex offenders don’t believe looking at pictures is wrong yet often looking at pictures can lead to offenders preying on children in real life and each time that someone looks at these images, they are victimizing the child all over again, “So every time they look at a picture they are committing a crime and punishment is justified.”
According to Nance’s Facebook page, he once worked for FedEx and is currently a Mississippi National Guardsman.
Celebrating his third anniversary with his wife, on his Facebook page she called him her ‘hero’.
“It’s sad. It is. Absolutely,” said Pounders.
Nance is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond. He’s due in court Monday morning.
Police say Nance signed a statement admitting to having child pornography on his computer.