Garza County, Texas Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years in Federal Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, TX—Rickey Steve Farris, formerly of Post, Texas, who pleaded guilty in August 2011 to one count of receipt of child pornography, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Farris, 40, has been in custody since his arrest in early July 2011.

According to documents filed in the case, Farris downloaded and viewed numerous images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of those images were of prepubescent minors and involved sadistic and masochistic abuse of a child.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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

The investigation was conducted by the Garza County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, the Lubbock Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.