Houston Resident Handed More Than 10-Year Prison Term for Multiple Child Pornography Charges

HOUSTON—Michael Johnathan Radcliff, 45, has been handed a total sentence of 121 months for distribution and possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Radcliff pleaded guilty to the charges November 4, 2011.

Today, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon sentenced Radcliff and further ordered he serve 10 years on supervised release following completion of that prison term. Judge Harmon further ordered he pay $3,500 in restitution to a known victim. Radcliff is also required to register as a sex offender.

The investigation began when agents with the FBI in Dallas were conducting an undercover investigation into persons making child pornography available online. At that time, agents came across an individual in Houston sharing child pornography using peer-to-peer file-sharing software. The matter was then transferred to Houston and the FBI Innocent Images Task Force continued the investigation.

On April 29, 2011, agents executed a federal search warrant at Radcliff’s residence in Houston, at which time Radcliff admitted to searching for and downloading child pornography on the Internet. During the search, a PowerSpec desktop computer, a Toshiba laptop and a thumb drive were seized and a subsequent forensic exam resulted in the discovery of images of child pornography. At least 949 images and 92 videos of child pornography were found, some of which depicted prepubescent girls engaging in sexual intercourse and oral sex with adult males.

Radcliff has been in federal custody since his arrest on July 13, 2011, where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of prison facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United states Attorney Sherri Zack and prosecuted by the FBI, 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to 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.”