HELENA — A 64-year-old Helena man is facing charges after deputies say child pornography was found on his computer.
Thomas Elliott Layne made his first appearance in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court on Wednesday. He is charged with sexual abuse of children.
According to court documents, a witness told Lewis and Clark County deputies they saw an image of an underage girl on Layne’s laptop while Layne was sleeping with the computer on his lap.
Documents say another witness went through the laptop the next day and found additional images.
Authorities say a deputy went to Layne’s home Tuesday to ask him about the incident. According to documents, Layne told the investigator he knew the images were child pornography and that there was “a lot of it.”
Documents say he claimed he had gone to a website and the images were then downloaded to his computer.
Layne’s bond was set at $40,000.
