Baytown Man Sentenced to Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

HOUSTON—Dustin Shane Gentry, 29, a Baytown resident, has been sentenced to 24 months in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release for possessing child pornography, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

United States District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal handed down the two-year sentence today following a sentencing hearing. The court has further ordered Gentry to register as a sex offender and to abide by special conditions designed to limit his access to the Internet and prohibit his frequenting places where children/minors congregate, such as parks and schools.

The federal charges brought against Gentry are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI Innocent Images Squad which was initiated following a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from Yahoo!. When contacted by FBI, Gentry admitted to possessing video and still images containing child pornography. Gentry was charged with possession of child pornography in a one-count indictment returned on Aug. 25, 2009, and pleaded guilty on Dec. 8, 2009.

Gentry was arrested Sept. 2, 2009, and released on Sept. 10, 2009. The court has permitted him to remain on bond with electronic monitoring pending the issuance of an order to surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future where he will serve out his prison term.

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. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 prosecuted by AUSA Sherri L. Zack.