Hudson youth coach sentenced to 10 years in child sexual abuse material case

A Hudson youth coach was sentenced to 121 months in prison for receiving child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

Nathaniel Willard Byrd, 38, also will serve 30 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced.

“Of all people who should not be fueling the trade of videos depicting the torture of children, a youth coach should be at the top of the list,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “We will be vigilant to prosecute those that harm our children, particularly those we entrust with their care.”

According to court documents and the sentencing hearing, law enforcement determined that an internet user, later identified as Byrd, was storing child sexual abuse material to a cloud-based account.

Some of the material included videos depicting children between 2 and 12 years old engaged in sex acts, including the torture of an 18-month-old child.

"This sentence is the result of a thorough investigation by our Internet Crimes Against Children detectives and the dedication of our local, state, and federal partners," said Caldwell County Sheriff Kevin Bean. "Crimes involving the exploitation of children are some of the most serious cases our investigators handle, and we will continue to pursue these offenders and do everything within our power to protect the children of our community."

On Oct. 30, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Byrd’s residence and seized his cellphone. During an interview with investigators, Byrd admitted that he downloaded child sexual abuse material.

A forensic review of the cellphone showed the phone contained the BitTorrent app, a peer-to-peer file-sharing application. Investigators determined Byrd possessed more than 1,300 files depicting the sexual abuse of children, 278 of which were videos. Some of the material had been downloaded using the BitTorrent app.

In December 2025, Byrd pleaded guilty to receiving child sexual abuse material.

Byrd is in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons after he is designated to a federal facility.

Ferguson thanked Homeland Security Investigations, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Boone Police Department, and the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office for their work on the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Spaugh of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice.

— AKC