San Antonio Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in San Antonio, 62-year-old Nigel Gale, a former Vice President with Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, faces between five and 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty this morning to receipt of child pornography.

On March 27, 2008, federal agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence where they seized two computers. A forensic analysis of the hard drives from those computers revealed the presence of more than 300,000 images and over 2,500 videos depicting child pornography. Previously, FBI agents took possession of the hard drive from Gale’s work computer on which authorities discovered over 600 images of child pornography.

Gale is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on May 12, 2010, before United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez.

This Project Safe Childhood case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Braun is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. The threat of sexual predators soliciting children for physical sexual contact is well-known and serious; the danger of the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography is equally dramatic and disturbing. The response to these growing problems must be coordinated, comprehensive, and robust. It must aim to investigate and prosecute vigorously, and protect and assist victimized children. At the same time, it must recognize the need for a broad, community-based effort to protect our children and to guarantee to future generations the opportunities of the American dream.