GALVESTON, TX—Donald Post, of League City, 69, has been ordered to prison for 40 years following his convictions of production and distribution of child pornography involving a 4-year-old minor female, as well as possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Post pleaded guilty March 5, 2014.

Today, U.S. Circuit Judge Gregg Costa, sitting in designation, handed Post a sentence of 480 months for each of the distribution and production charges, as well as 240 months for possession of child pornography. The sentences will be served concurrently for a total 40-year federal sentence.

Post was arrested August 8, 2013, based on a criminal complaint and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner in Galveston on August 13 for a detention hearing. At that time, the court found there to be probable cause he committed the crimes and that Post, a registered sex offender, was a danger to the community and a flight risk. He was subsequently ordered into custody pending further criminal proceedings.

Post has admitted to photographing a 4-year-old female victim in lewd and lascivious poses and then distributing these images via the Internet. He also authored a document that chronicled his activities with this victim. The account of the incident is incredibly graphic and makes references to his prior acts of molestation for which he was convicted and subsequently ordered to register as a sex offender.

Post will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack, 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.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.