TWO CHARGED IN SMUGGLING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ELECTRONICALLY IN PRISON
An investigation into child sexual exploitation charges has resulted in the arrest of a Canadian man and another man with ties to Crossville. According to WATE, a joint investigation conducted by ALERT Internet Child Exploitation, US Homeland Security and the Knoxville Internet Crimes Against Children Unit revealed that 44-year-old Peter Ritchie from Alberta, Canada allegedly shared pornographic material of children electronically with 28-year-old Christopher Grippe. Grippe has been serving an eight-year sentence for sexual exploitation of a minor. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for distribution and possession of child pornography on Sept. 20th and is set to be arraigned on Oct. 3rd. The charges come with a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years up to 40 years. Authorities say that the men connected through a social media app which Grippe is accused of smuggling into prison.