Ex-county employee pleads guilty to child porn charge

A former Clark County public information officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of transporting child pornography.

Erik Muller, 41, who worked in the county’s Nuclear Waste Division, faces 10 to 15 years in prison and up to a lifetime of supervised release under a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro set a March 21 sentencing for Muller, who is in federal custody.

The county moved to fire Muller after he was charged in a six-count indictment. Prosecutors have agreed to dismiss the other charges, which include sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, as part of the plea deal worked out with his defense lawyer, Richard Wright.

Muller, a county employee for 10 years, was arrested after an undercover investigation by local and federal authorities, which began in October 2011.

In a criminal complaint, a Henderson police detective said Muller gained access to child pornography downloads through a laptop from home and at work. When Muller was asked about the whereabouts of his laptop during a Nov. 15 interview with authorities, he said he had left it at his “work cubicle,” the detective wrote.

Investigators later learned he was using the Clark County Internet Network, the complaint said.

Authorities raided Muller’s work station at the Clark County Government Center on Nov. 16 and seized a case containing CDs, DVDs and USB storage devices, the complaint said.