Man charged with child sexual exploitation

COEUR d’ALENE — A man is facing numerous felony charges for allegedly soliciting nude photos from a child, as well as allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material and “computer generated” depictions of child sexual abuse.

Nicholas R. Falzone, 19, of Coeur d’Alene, is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possession of sexually exploitative material and four counts of visual representation of the sexual abuse of children, as well as a single count of sexual exploitation of a child by production of sexually exploitative material and sexual exploitation of a child by distribution of sexually exploitative material. 

The investigation began after authorities received tips through the Internet Crimes Against Children data system regarding alleged child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded to a cloud-based storage account associated with Falzone’s phone number, according to court records. 

Investigators reviewed the flagged materials, which included videos depicting child sexual abuse, as well as “computer generated” images depicting the same, according to court records. 

Police executed a search warrant at Falzone’s home July 2. According to court records, after Falzone declined to provide the password to unlock his phone while detained by police, a detective used Falzone’s thumb to unlock it. 

The phone allegedly contained a conversation on the messaging app Telegram between Falzone and an individual who described herself as a 12-year-old girl. Falzone allegedly solicited nude photos from the girl and received such images, records said. 

Falzone remains in jail on $200,000 bail.