CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- A former Hickory firefighter was sentenced to prison for the possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced on Tuesday.

Nate Eli Kurzak, 22, was sentenced to 84 months in prison. He was ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release, to register as a sex offender after his release from prison, and pay $22,000 in special assessments.

In August 2023, law enforcement was notified of an individual who was using a cloud-based file hosting site to upload suspected CSAM. Hickory police officers executed a search warrant on Kurzak's home and seized a computer, cell phone, and other electronic devices that contained over 2,000 videos and 600 images of CSAM. Some of the material depicted prepubescent minors being sexual

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