Alabama Court Upholds Prison Term for 117 Counts of Child Pornography
By: J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
August 29, 2026
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Investigators said that a tip about a photo on Pinterest led them to investigate a 67-year-old Tuscaloosa County man that ultimately led police to the man’s home, where they found more than 100 images of child sexual abuse material, and a child-sized sex doll locked inside his bedroom closet.
Attorney General Steve Marshall announced this week that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the convictions of Dennis Dudley Wright, 67, of Buhl, who was found guilty in October 2025 of 117 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and one count of disseminating it.
Now, nearly four years after that first online tip, his 117 convictions will stand.
The case began in December 2022, when Pinterest reported an image depicting child pornography that had been uploaded from a specific IP address.
Investigators traced the address to Wright and linked the Pinterest username responsible for the upload to his email account, according to Marshall’s office.
Police later seized Wright’s electronic devices from his home. A forensic examination uncovered more than 100 images depicting children investigators said appeared to be between 9 and 14 years old.
Investigators also discovered a silicon sex doll approximately the size of a child in that same age range, dressed in lingerie and locked inside a closet in Wright’s bedroom.
Outside reporting from Wright’s 2025 trial revealed the investigation extended well beyond the single Pinterest image that first drew authorities’ attention. Jurors heard that investigators seized multiple computers, hard drives and a server setup with roughly 30 terabytes of storage.
Wright argued at trial that he did not knowingly possess the material and suggested his ex-wife or others could have accessed his devices and planted it.
Prosecutors pointed instead to Wright’s own statements. An investigator testified that, when asked what else police might find on his devices, Wright responded that they would find “more of the same.” Jurors also heard testimony about a jailhouse call in which Wright reportedly remarked that he would not be in jail if he had used a VPN.
A Tuscaloosa County jury convicted Wright on October 1, 2025.
He was sentenced to 10 years for possession of pornography and 18 years for the dissemination conviction, with the sentences running concurrently.
Wright appealed in an effort to have the convictions overturned, but the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals rejected that effort in a decision issued Friday, August 14, 2026.
Marshall’s Criminal Appeals Division represented the state during the appellate proceedings.
Marshall credited Assistant Attorney General Stephen N. Dodd for handling the appeal and thanked Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb and his office for prosecuting the case.
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