Grapeland, Texas Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Violation
Palestine ISD Substitute Teacher Gets 2.5 Years in Federal Prison

TYLER, TX—U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced today that a 66-year-old Grapeland, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas.

ROBERT CARL SAMPSON pleaded guilty on Oct. 23, 2009, to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Mar. 23, 2010 by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis. Sampson was also ordered to forfeit his personal computer equipment.

According to information presented in court, in February 2008, Sampson, a substitute teacher for the Palestine Independent School District, brought several boxes of teaching aides to a fellow teacher, who discovered discs containing child pornography with the teaching materials.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Palestine Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baldwin.