(Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS) A Merrimack police cruiser is one of several from various law enforcement agencies that parked along Amherst Road earlier this month while investigators executed a search warrant.

MERRIMACK — The 21-year-old Merrimack man arrested on child pornography possession allegations subsequent to a recent search of his Amherst Road residence by local, county and state authorities has been granted his request he be released from jail as he awaits his next court appearance.

Kyre W. Walsh, who according to police reports lives with his father and grandfather at 35 Amherst Road, is facing 10 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse images — also known as child pornography — in connection with what turned out to be a 14-month investigation into information developed by the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that indicated someone at a Hooksett residence had allegedly been uploading child pornography to certain IP addresses.

Walsh was booked on the charges at Merrimack police headquarters and initially held on preventive detention. Scheduled for arraignment in Hillsborough County Superior Court South the following day, Walsh waived formal arraignment upon being granted bail, which was set at $10,000 unsecured bond with several conditions, including that he sign a waiver of extradition.

“Unsecured bond” means that if a defendant doesn’t show up for future court appearances as ordered, or violates other terms of bail, the person who posted the bond may be required to forfeit the funds.

Walsh is next scheduled in Superior Court on Oct. 25 for a dispositional conference.

(Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS) One of the investigators who took part in the search of a residence at 35 Amherst Road in Merrimack earlier this month carries a desktop computer "tower" from the house to one of the cruisers at left.

Meanwhile, the investigation got underway in July 2021, when the ICAC Task Force assigned a Hooksett police officer to look into information ICAC had received from Google and other social media sites indicating child pornography had been detected on IP addresses, which the officer allegedly determined included the name “Kyre Walsh,” officials said.

The detective tracked the IP address to 15 Maple St. in Hooksett, but after conducting “a series of surveillances” of the address, he determined that Walsh and two other family members living there had moved.

After obtaining a forwarding address for the Walshes from the U.S. Postal Service, the detective learned they had moved to 35 Amherst Road in Merrimack sometime in February.

Come June, the detective went to 35 Amherst Road and knocked on the door, which was answered by a young man he identified as Kyre Walsh. The detective wrote in reports that he spoke briefly with Walsh then departed.

Investigators at that point applied for, and were granted, a warrant to search the residence, which “numerous police personnel” executed on Aug. 9.

While police were executing the warrant, three people who were believed to be residents of the house — one of whom has been identified as Kyre Walsh — were escorted outside before investigators entered.

The three stood by while officers came and went, some of them carrying bags used for the collection of evidence. Officials didn’t say what types of items they seized.

One detective was seen carrying a computer “tower,” units that are typically used with desktop computer stations. He placed it in one of the Merrimack cruisers parked on the edge of the property.

Roughly an hour after they arrived, the investigators allowed the three people to return to the home, then left the scene a short time later.

No arrests were made at that time, but several days later a warrant was issued for Kyre Walsh’s arrest.

According to police reports, the ICAC Task Force forensic examiner located “hundreds of files containing sexual abuse imagery” on a USB drive — and further, the examiner “suspects thousands of additional child sexual abuse images” may have allegedly been in Walsh’s possession.

Additionally, the report states, Walsh “also said he had thousands of child sexual abuse files, which corroborates this suspicion … .”

Telegraph contributor Jeffrey Hastings provided reporting for this story.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.