An ISU student has been charged with possession of child pornography. According to a criminal complaint, investigators found hundreds of images on his computer, including some of minors as young as infants.

ISU Police began investigating Yongkang Yang, 21, soon after he was identified by a subpoena.

After receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that more than 200 images had been uploaded from an IP address leased to Iowa State, Capt. Aaron DeLashmutt subpoenaed school records for the name of the user from 9:13 p.m. to 9:19 p.m. on May 2, 2014. 

At the time, Yang was studying abroad in China for the summer, but was expected back for the beginning of fall semester 2014.

According to the affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Iowa, on Oct. 1, 2014, DeLashmutt applied for and was granted a search warrant for Yang’s apartment in Ames. The ISU Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations agents executed the warrant on Oct. 8, 2014.

During the execution of the warrant, Yang first said he did not upload any images, but later said he forgot the images were on his computer, the affidavit states. Police said the images were in a hidden folder on his “F” drive labeled “very fun.” During an interview the next day, police said Yang told them he downloaded the child pornography in high school and had forgotten it was on his computer. 

Police said digital forensic technicians recovered approximately 1,082 images from Yang’s computer, many of prepubescent children participating in sexual acts. Investigators also found hundreds of images of the lascivious display of prepubescent genitalia, some as young as infants, the affidavit stated.

The charge of knowingly possessing child pornography carries a fine of 10 years imprisonment and prosecutors can ask for up to 20 years in prison if the explicit images are proven to be of prepubescent minors. 

Yang was released by U.S. Magistrate Judge Celeste Bremer after a hearing May 14, on the condition of wearing a GPS monitoring system. 

Attempts to contact Yang via email were not immediately responded to.