OAKLAND — A former Bay Area resident who was facing charges of possessing hundreds of thousands of videos and photos of child pornography died just three days before he was set to plead guilty, according to court records.

Kevin Shipley, 47, was accused of possessing more than 365,000 videos and images of child pornography, including videos of toddlers being sexually assaulted. He died Oct. 31 in Siskiyou County, just five days before he was scheduled to enter a guilty plea to child pornography possession, according to recently-filed court records.

Three weeks later, the U.S. Attorney’s office formally dismissed the case, citing Shipley’s death. Shipley faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The manner of death is not listed in court records, and the Siskiyou County Coroner’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Shipley was charged in federal court last March, but before that he was facing related charges in Alameda County. Local authorities started investigating Shipley in late 2019 based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In May 2020, he was arrested on state charges. During the investigation, he allegedly sent an undercover investigator a link to a site containing videos of young children being sexually abused.

At the time of his 2020 arrest, Shipley worked as the head groundkeeper at the Tilden Golf Course in Berkeley. Within hours of his arrest being reported by local media, the golf course announced his employment there had been ended.

Source: www.mercurynews.com