(Washington) The son of the man suspected of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump in Florida has been arrested for possession of images of sexual assault of minors.
Oran Alexander Routh was arrested this week after authorities searched his Greensboro, North Carolina, home “in connection with an unrelated child exploitation investigation” and found hundreds of files depicting child sexual abuse, an FBI agent said in court documents.
Investigators, who seized several electronic devices, found videos sent to Routh in July as well as conversations from a messaging app commonly used by people who share child sexual abuse material, the FBI agent added.
He faces two counts of possession and receipt of child sexual abuse material and is expected to appear in federal court in North Carolina.
No lawyer was listed for Routh in court documents. Phone messages left for Routh’s relatives have not been answered.
Oran Routh’s father, Ryan Wesley Routh, has been charged with federal firearms offenses in connection with the Sept. 15 assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s Florida golf course. Prosecutors have indicated that much more serious attempted murder charges are forthcoming.
PHOTO LOTHAR SPEER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Ryan Wesley Routh Courtroom Sketch
Routh’s arrest was first reported Tuesday by ABC News.
Several convictions in the past
A federal judge agreed with Justice Department prosecutors Monday that Ryan Routh should remain in jail pending trial.
Prosecutors said Routh left behind a note detailing his plans to kill the former president and kept a handwritten list of dates and locations in his car where Trump was to go. The note outlining Routh’s plans was placed in a box he had left months earlier at the home of an unidentified person, who did not open it until after Routh was arrested, prosecutors said.
Ryan Routh is currently charged with illegal possession of his gun despite multiple felony convictions, including two counts of possession of stolen property in 2002 in North Carolina and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
But a prosecutor told the court Monday that the prosecution would bring additional charges before a grand jury, accusing him of attempting to “assassinate a major political candidate” – charges that would carry up to life in prison if convicted.
PHOTO GIORGIO VIERA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Ryan Routh is currently charged with illegal possession of his weapon.
It is common for prosecutors to file easier-to-prove charges before adding more serious allegations as the case progresses.
Ryan Routh was arrested on September 15 after a Secret Service agent monitoring the Trump International Golf Club for security threats saw a man’s face partially obscured and the barrel of a semi-automatic rifle pointed directly at the former president.
The officer shot Routh, who fled before being arrested by authorities in a neighboring county, leaving behind a loaded rifle, a digital camera, a backpack and a reusable shopping bag hanging from a chain-link fence.