Brown County Man Sentenced to 188 Months in Federal Prison for Using the Internet to Collect and Share Hundreds of Images of Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, TX—Nathan Derek McGinn, 33, of Brownwood, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison and a 10-year term of supervised release following his guilty plea in November 2012 to one count of receiving child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. McGinn has been in custody since September 17, 2012.

According to documents filed in the case, McGinn used his computer, which was connected to the Internet, to access music and various forms of pornography through the use of file-sharing software. Specifically, McGinn used the software to collect and share hundreds of images of child pornography.

This matter 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy prosecuted.