A Raleigh man has been convicted on federal charges for possessing a disturbing trove of child sexual abuse material on his work laptop. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 45-year-old Joseph Matthew Dobbs now faces at least a decade behind bars following the guilty verdict delivered by a federal jury on Tuesday.
The investigation into Dobbs began in November 2022, when a supervisor at the multinational technology company where he was employed as an IT support engineer, incidentally remotely observed to Dobbs viewing what seemed to be child sexual abuse material. Following his immediate termination, the company handed over evidence to law enforcement, triggering a search of Dobbs’ apartment and the seizure of his work laptop by the Raleigh Police Department. As reported by the Department of Justice, more than 300 images of child sexual abuse, including imagery involving infants and depictions of bondage, were discovered on the device and the company’s backup servers.
During his trial, the details of Dobbs' past emerged with a prior conviction in 2006 for offenses involving child exploitation, including having carnal knowledge of a child and the possession of child sexual abuse material, among other charges. Dobbs had served seven years for these crimes and was under probation at the time of the current charges.
Dobbs' sentencing is scheduled for July, where a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison awaits. This case highlights the efforts of federal, state, and local authorities in addressing the exploitation and abuse of children.
