Shawn Curtis Fox, 30, of Hickory, was sentenced to an active prison term of six to 23 years for three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed the sentence following Fox’s plea to the charges against him.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections and be required to register as a sex offender for life.
The offenses ranged from November 1, 2023, to April 20, 2024, and were reported to the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office by a predatory watchdog organization. The organization turned over text messages, videos and images tied to the defendant’s solicitation of a 13-year-old female victim that were reviewed by investigators with the Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators contacted the defendant and conducted an interview with him. During that interview he gave consent to search his cell phone, and additional images of child pornography involving victims ages 1, 3 and 13 years were found.
Fox already is a registered sex offender from a prior felony sex conviction in Caswell County and was released from prison in January 2023.
Mark Higdon investigated the case for the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant District Attorney Jessica Phillips prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Dea Crowe.