A Roanoke Rapids police officer charged federally with possession and distribution of child pornography is scheduled for preliminary and detention hearings Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Raleigh, according to court records.

The hearings will be held before Magistrate Judge James E. Gates.

On Friday, the government moved to unseal its case against 31-year-old Isaac Matthew Nielsen and directed the deputy clerk to file the redacted complaint as a public document.

Nielsen requested a federal public defender and was initially remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

According to the complaint, the investigation originated from a tip by a foreign law enforcement agency regarding a user on the porn website Motherless operating under the name ****meat22.

An undercover officer posed as a single mother on the platform and engaged in chats with ****meat22, who was later identified as Nielsen.

In these chats, Nielsen reportedly said his favorite age is 10 to 15 and expressed sexual interest in the undercover agent’s fictitious 10-year-old daughter.

On May 23 and May 26, the complaint says that Nielsen sent the undercover agent multiple videos and images depicting child sexual abuse material, including videos of prepubescent minors engaging in sexual acts with adults.

Nielsen also reportedly sent an image of two minors that appeared to be created or modified using artificial intelligence.

The FBI discovered Nielsen’s identity through a combination of self-disclosed information and database checks.

During a chat, he said his name was Isaac and mentioned his wife’s name was similar to one discussed in the sessions.

He depicted himself as an employee of an armed security company and sent photos of himself in a uniform.

Investigators located a traffic crash report for Isaac Matthew Nielsen, born May 24, 1994, which matched the age and location details provided in the chat.

Open-source checks revealed Nielsen is a police officer with the Roanoke Rapids Police Department.

FBI agents compared the photos sent by the subject account — which showed distinctive tattoos and a sandy-blonde beard — with photos on the RRPD Facebook page and the Facebook account of Nielsen's wife.

The FBI agent submitted the affidavit asserting probable cause that Nielsen knowingly possessed and distributed child pornography, and Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Swank signed the document on Wednesday.