A Carroll man accused of child pornography production and possession has been transferred into federal custody. Forty-seven-year-old Lucas Oliver Knowles was arrested Wednesday after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Carroll Police Department executed a search warrant at his home at 615 McCoy Dr. around 8:50 a.m. on Wednesday. Federal agents entered the residence in force, deploying a flashbang grenade and detaining Knowles. Their search of Knowles’s home and computer found images of child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit images of juvenile females and a video he produced and saved to his Google Drive around three weeks ago. Knowles was booked into the Carroll County jail Wednesday afternoon for first-offense purchase and possession of the depiction of a minor in a sex act, a class D felony, and released into federal custody on Thursday. A motion to dismiss the local charge has already been filed to allow the case to proceed through the federal system, where he is charged with sexual exploitation of children. Knowles faces up to 15 years in federal prison, likely longer, if convicted.
