Son of Trump assassination suspect Ryan Routh arrested for child abuse photos

The son of the man accused of plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump on his golf course has been arrested in connection with a child sexual abuse imagery case.

Oran Alexander Routh was charged in federal court on Monday with receiving and possessing child pornography. Court records from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina show he was arrested on Tuesday and that no attorney was scheduled for him.

Public records show Oran Routh is the son of Ryan Wesley Routh, the man authorities believed tried to kill Trump on Sept. 15 at the former president's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida. A senior U.S. law enforcement official also confirmed the father-son connection to NBC News after the younger Routh was arrested.

Ryan Routh was charged Tuesday with attempted murder of Trump, the Justice Department said. He is also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and assault on a Secret Service agent, federal prosecutors said.

Ryan Routh is in custody and faces life in prison if convicted.

The criminal complaint filed against Oran Routh states that his home in North Carolina was searched in connection with another case. It is unclear whether this was related to the investigation into his father.

According to a criminal complaint, the FBI searched Oran Routh's North Carolina home on Saturday and allegedly found “hundreds” of files containing child sexual abuse images while reviewing an SD card in a Samsung phone found in his bedroom.

The files included videos from a “well-known” series that also included videos of an adult man with a “prepubescent” girl under the age of 10, the complaint said.

A second Samsung phone was found in Oran Routh's possession, according to the complaint, and contained a downloaded folder with additional video files. Investigators reported that they observed a video of an adult female with a girl between the ages of 6 and 8.

The complaint also states that investigators found a messaging app on the phone that is “commonly used by individuals who distribute and receive child pornography.” The person sending messages from the phone asked for a preview of the digital content being sold, the complaint states.

Two files were then sent, both of which involved sexual acts between adults and minors, the complaint said.

On Monday, an arrest warrant was filed against him in federal court.

Routh was also charged with drug possession the same day federal agents confiscated his devices and later found child pornography, according to North Carolina court records. Law enforcement officers seized cocaine, MDMA and ketamine from his home, as well as gold and black trays containing a white powdery substance, leading to two felony possession charges and two misdemeanor possession charges, according to records.

This case is one of at least 39 criminal cases filed against Oran Routh in North Carolina over a period of about 17 years, most of them in Guilford District County, which includes the city of Greensboro. He had previously been charged with several traffic violations, drug possession and assault on a woman.

The outcome of each case was not immediately clear. In 2018, Oran pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Court records show Oran Routh is in federal custody and as of Tuesday morning, he had not been scheduled for a preliminary hearing nor had he entered a guilty plea.