Son of suspected would-be Trump assassin arrested on child porn charges

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‘The Ingraham Angle’ panelists Matthew Whitaker and James Fitzgerald discuss the DOJ releasing an alleged letter written by suspected would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh.

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The son of would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh has been taken into custody on federal charges of possessing child pornography.

Authorities seized multiple electronic devices from 35-year-old Oran Alexander Routh’s home in Greensboro, North Carolina on Saturday that investigators say contained “hundreds” of files with child exploitation material. The illicit material was discovered during a search conducted “in connection with an investigation unrelated to child exploitation,” according to a criminal complaint. 

Routh has been charged with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. 

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Oran Alexander Routh, 35, is in federal custody on child pornography charges. His father, Ryan Routh, was arrested earlier this month after a foiled assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life.  (raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification (CCBI))

FBI investigators were at Routh’s home in connection to the investigation of his father, Ryan Routh, 58, who was arrested on Sept. 15 after authorities spotted a gun poking out of the shrubbery on the golf course where former President Trump was playing that afternoon. Routh allegedly camped outside the golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, records revealed. 

The Republican presidential candidate was unharmed in the incident. 

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A general view of the fenced area near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The area is where Ryan Routh is reported to have lay in wait for former President Trump on Sunday. (Peter Burke/Fox News Digital/Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

The FBI conducted a search of Oran Routh’s home on Sept. 21 as part of the investigation into his father. Investigators confiscated several electronic devices, including a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 device. After authorities obtained a warrant to search the electronics, investigators discovered child pornography videos on an SD card located in the Samsung device. 

“A review of the SD card located in Device-1 revealed that it contained hundreds of child pornography files,” the criminal complaint states. “These files include videos from a known child pornography series created outside the state of North Carolina.”

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A court sketch depicts Ryan Routh’s appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday, September 23, 2024. Routh is facing charges related to the alleged attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump last week. (Lothar Speer)

Investigators subsequently found a second device they say contained child pornography and described the content of those videos in graphic detail.

Oran Routh has a criminal history, including arrests in 2015 and 2016 for driving while impaired, assault on a female and interfering with an emergency communication, online records show. 

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A federal judge on Monday ordered Ryan Routh to be held in custody pending his trial on federal gun charges, though more serious charges are likely to come. Federal prosecutors have said they intend to ask a grand jury to indict Routh for the attempted assassination of Trump, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Fox News Digital’s Mollie Markowitz contributed to this report.

Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send tips to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.