Convicted Glenwood sex offender arrested on child porn charges

GLENWOOD SPRINGS – A Glenwood Springs convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday for allegedly possessing child pornography, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested Christopher Earl Carlyle, 33, outside of his workplace, the Sheriff’s Office said. Carlyle, who has a Glenwood Springs address, appeared in Garfield County District Court on Thursday and was advised of the charges against him. He is being held in the Garfield County jail without bond on a parole violation.

Authorities reported that Carlyle is a repeat sexual offender and was on parole for a 2008 conviction of crimes against a minor. Carlyle’s parole status restricted him from having a personal computer at home, as well as possessing sexually explicit material.

Deputies arrested Carlyle after investigators discovered more than 1,000 sexually explicit photos of children on his employer’s computer. Deputies also found printouts and videos of the same type of material at his residence, the sheriff’s office reported.

The images were first discovered after Carlyle’s employer’s Internet service provider conducted an audit of his e-mail accounts. The audit stemmed from the Internet provider experiencing several hits on sites “of sexually explicit nature,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The Internet provider relayed the information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which conducted a background investigation into the alleged activity. The center then contacted the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and ultimately the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, seeking search warrants that led to the arrest.

Carlyle faces one count of felony Internet sexual exploitation of a child and five counts of felony sexual exploitation of children.