News

Former firefighter sent to prison on sexual exploitation charge

By Bill Moss, Published: October 16, 2017

A former Fletcher firefighter was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Oct. 10 after pleading guilty to five counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a crime charged when a person knowingly possesses material containing a visual representation of a minor child engaged in sexual activity, District Attorney Greg Newman announced.

Aaron Lanning, 39, pleaded guilty to all five charges after Newman refused to offer him any reduced plea. Lanning possessed several sexually explicit images of underage children on his computer at the Fletcher Fire Department.

“The images on his computer, which he admitted were his, were very disturbing,” Newman said in a news release. “The images portrayed young boys and girls engaged in a variety of sexual acts and lewd poses. Their ages ranged from 5 to 11. I wish I knew who produced this filth. Clearly, these kids are being abused and exploited for the gratification of sick individuals. What I saw was appalling."
Lanning used a computer chat room to express his sexual interest in younger girls, court records said. He was identified by an agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in another region of the country, who then alerted local Homeland Security agents. Lanning was interviewed by both federal agents and Henderson County Sheriff’s investigators where he was confronted with his comments. A subsequent search of his work place computer was conducted and the illegal images were found. He was fired from his job at the fire department and has been living in Alabama most recently.

Lanning will be eligible for release after serving 18 months in a North Carolina prison.