A federal judge has ordered a 47-year-old Westminster woman and University of Colorado employee accused of distributing and possessing child pornography held without bond.
The FBI arrested Sharee Ewudzi-Acquah on Oct. 20 after a federal grand jury indicted her on two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix ordered her held after a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Denver on Monday during which a prosecutor argued she was a danger to the community.
Ewudzi-Acquah is listed on CU Boulder’s staff directory as an accounting specialist with the CU Office of Information Technology.
Prosecutors say she traded child pornography and chatted about child pornography while at work.
A statement from CU said: “We are deeply disturbed to hear of these very serious charges against Ms. Ewudzi-Acquah.
“Upon learning of the charges, the university placed her on paid administrative leave and initiated disciplinary action under state personnel board procedures.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Valeria Spencer told the judge Ewudzi-Acquah traded child pornography with multiple users using a specific cellphone application that allows users to trade large volumes of child pornography anonymously.
FBI investigators were investigating an individual in San Antonio, Texas, when they found evidence of child pornography trading with someone whose IP address was in Westminster.
“Further investigation revealed very graphic sex chats, during which Ewudzi-Acquah sent images and videos of child pornography to the subject in San Antonio,” according to a U.S. Justice Department release.
After a forensic analysis of her phones, agents determined Ewudzi-Acquah was using cloud storage and foreign emails in both New Zealand and in Russia.
“During one chat found on one of her devices, the defendant claimed to have molested a relative,” the release said.
She had a total of three phones with child pornography on them.
She faces up to 20 years in federal prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 per count for each of the two distribution counts. If convicted of possession of child pornography, she could be sentenced to as many as 10 years in federal prison, and fined up to $250,000.
