Ex-groundskeeping head of Berkeley golf course hit with federal child porn charges

OAKLAND — A man who worked as the head groundskeeper of the Tilden Golf Course when he was arrested on suspicion of having child pornography last year has been charged in federal court, records show.

Kevin Shipley, 47, is accused of possessing a massive amount of child porn — more than 365,000 videos and images — on his cell phone and computer. The charging records allege that Shipley, using the screen name “Billy Deewilliams,” once sent an undercover agent a link to “videos of child rape, which includes videos of children as young as toddlers being abused by adults.”

Shipley was arrested in Oregon earlier this month in connection with the federal charges, which were filed in the Bay Area. Last week, a federal judge released him pending the resolution of his case.

Authorities started investigating Shipley in late 2019 based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He was arrested at the golf course in Berkeley four months later. Within hours of his arrest being reported by local media, the golf course publicly declared he was no longer an employee there, according to published reports.

Shipley has not yet appeared before a federal judge in the Bay Area to enter a plea. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, court records show.