U.S. Attorney Announces Results of Child Exploitation Prevention Initiative

HOUSTON—Today, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced that in the last two years in the Southern District of Texas, the joint investigative efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners have resulted in the prosecution of 75 persons who have, or are alleged to have, exploited children in violation of federal law as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a long-term, coordinated law enforcement effort to investigate and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children.

PSC is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC 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. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimates that 10 percent of those depicted in commonly traded images are infants and toddlers and 67 percent are prepubescent children.

In a victim impact statement submitted during a child pornography prosecution by the mother of a child whose sexual abuse was photographed, the mother writes, “It has been seven years since my daughter’s case [was] revealed. Since then, I have been informed on a monthly basis of accounts where someone is being charged for having possession of her images that were on the Internet. These images will never be erased from the Internet and will never be erased from my daughter’s memory. The fact that someone says to view the images is a non-victim incident is absurd. The individuals who view these images are only feeding the perpetrator to continue creating and exchanging such images. Every time my daughter’s image is viewed, she is a victim all over again.”

“Images and videos of child pornography are, in essence, crime scene photos,” said U.S. Attorney Moreno. “The dissemination of child pornography perpetuates the abuse initially inflicted on these children into perpetuity. The sexual predator who entices a minor for sexual purposes via the Internet targets the most vulnerable for their own sexual gratification. These predators cannot be permitted to prey upon our children. PSC and the commitment of resources by my office and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners reflect our commitment to seek out the predator and protect and rescue our children.”

There is no “general description” or “profile” of a sexual predator. Defendants come from all walks of life. They run the gamet in age from 20 to 70 and in profession or employment from students to college professors, to engineers, lawyers, and teachers. They could be your neighbor next door or living several states or countries away. Cases investigated by our various law enforcement partners and recently prosecuted by this office include cases brought against individuals engaged in child exploitation crimes, including:

• the possession, distribution, transportation, and production of child pornography,
• sex trafficking of a minor,
• traveling to engage in sex with a minor,
• Internet enticement of a minor,
• “sex tourism” (traveling from the United States to other countries to abuse children),
• and violations of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”)

A list of notable cases investigated and prosecuted in this district between March 2009 and March 2011 is below.

Federal penalties associated with child exploitation crimes are severe. In addition to facing a lengthy, often mandatory, term of imprisonment, defendants prosecuted in the Southern District of Texas often face a lifetime of court supervision following any period of incarceration as well as life time registration as a sex offender. During that time, in addition to being a registered sex offender, a defendant will not be allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children, will be subject to random searches of their homes and places of work and will have his computer and Internet use monitored.

Our Law Enforcement Partners

In the SDTX, our law enforcement partners include the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), district attorney offices within our district, the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) (http://hmicac.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage), which includes 41 federal and local law enforcement agencies, as well as a second ICAC operated by the Texas Attorney General’s Office (TX AG)Computer Crimes Unit with law enforcement investigators and professional forensic examiners (https://www.oag.state.tx.us/criminal/investigation.shtml#icac).

The TXAG-ICAC conducts criminal investigations, assists other law enforcement agencies, provides training and performs forensic analysis of electronic evidence and in our district focuses its investigative resources in the McAllen and Laredo divisions.

In Houston, the FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force includes officers from the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office, working together to investigate crimes occurring over the Internet, including online crimes against children and providing computer forensic review services for participating agencies. For more information about Innocent Images see http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/innocent-images-1.

HSI’s Operation Predator is a world-wide initiative focused upon identifying, investigating, and arresting child predators and sexual offenders. It draws on HSI’s unique investigative and enforcement authorities targeting and investigating child pornographers, child sex tourists and facilitators, human smugglers and traffickers of minors, and criminal aliens convicted of offenses against minors and those deported for child exploitation offenses who have returned illegally. For more information about Operation Predator see http://www.ice.gov/predator/.

The USMS investigates, locates, and brings to justice, convicted sexual predators who have failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States and seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs. In part, SORNA requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work or go to school. To learn more about the USMS efforts against child predators see http://www.usmarshals.gov/.

Stressing the dedication and commitment of federal and state prosecutors along with the PSC law enforcement partners to locate, arrest and prosecute child predators, Moreno issued this warning to those engaged in exploiting our children, “You cannot hide in cyberspace nor coerce and intimidate our children into prostitution or forced labor. Sooner or later we will find you. It may be tomorrow, next week or next month, but eventually law enforcement will be knocking on your door.”

Our Outreach Efforts

Because prevention is as integral to the success of PSC as investigations and prosecutions, PSC includes law enforcement training and community outreach efforts. Just this month, in recognition of the work done by our Community Relations Coordinator and three Assistant U.S. Attorneys including our PSC Coordinator, this office received the Department of Justice Combating Child Exploitation Award for Outstanding Community Outreach Efforts. The award was earned through an educational outreach presentation program entitled, “Internet Safety: It’s Not Just Your Computer Anymore,” launched in January 2010 and directed toward parents and educators to help prevent child enticement, sexting, cyberbullying, and online hazards faced by children. To date, presentations have been made to more than 2,500 educators and parents district wide in both English and Spanish. In its next phase, the program will include presentations to children and teens.

As part of its public outreach efforts, the Department of Justice has launched a website that highlights the work of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country. This new site, the “Briefing Room,” is available at www.justice.gov/usao/briefing_room/index.html and offers news, videos, photos, statistics, and other information on significant issues. Each month, the Briefing Room will feature a different Department of Justice priority area. The inaugural edition of the Briefing Room is dedicated to PSC and includes press releases on significant PSC cases, statistics on convictions and sentences in PSC cases, and prevention and Internet safety resources.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

Project Safe Childhood – Case Summaries

Production of Child Pornography

If convicted of the charge of production of child pornography, a defendant faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.

On Jan. 20, 2011, TIMOTHY CYRUS FLORES, 23, was sentenced to 327 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release after pleading guilty to production of child pornography. Flores, who was living in Austin at the time of his arrest, came to the attention of the FBI who conducted a search of his home. Images and videos depicting child pornography were found. During the analysis of the images, agents recognized a distinctive article of clothing as clothing seen in Flores’ apartment at the time of the search. Flores later admitted to assaulting a child and taking photographs while in Corpus Christi, Texas.

On Sept. 30, 2010, KEVIN PAUL JAMES, 28, of Rockport, Texas, was sentenced to 262 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release after pleading guilty to production of child pornography. The Corpus Christi Police Department and FBI conducted the investigation after they received information from a parent of a child that had been in contact with James over the Internet. A search warrant was served at James’ residence and images of child pornography were located on computer media found there. James admitted to accessing a social networking site where he met two minor females. James sent sexually explicit images of himself to the minors and requested and received sexually explicit images from the minors in return.

On Feb. 12, 2010, JOSEPH MARSHALL MONTROSS, 30, of Houston, was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to production of child pornography. A pre-employment polygraph led to the information that Montross was in possession of child pornography at his residence. Houston ICE and the Houston Metro ICAC searched the residence and found images and videos of child pornography on his computer. While reviewing the images and videos found, an ICE agent observed videos that contained child pornography and appeared to have been made by Montross in his home. Montross later admitted to filming minors inside his residence. Three minors were interviewed and told officers that Montross molested them.

On Aug. 27, 2009, PERRY ADKINS, 60, of Houston, was sentenced to 235 months’ imprisonment and supervised release for life after pleading guilty to production of child pornography. Adkins admitted to meeting young girls online and via webcam, coercing them into removing their clothes and/or performing sexual acts on themselves. Adkins recorded this using a webcam and distributed the images over the Internet. The case came to the attention of the Texas Attorney General’s Office ICAC when Canadian authorities were notified by a social networking site about Adkins when he made threats to one of the girls that he would travel to Canada and shoot one of the girl’s friends unless she disrobed on webcam for him. Officers with the ICAC, Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Adkins’ home and found more than 10,000 images of child pornography on his computers.

On June 8, 2009, WILLIAM ARTHUR DOYLE III, 56, of Round Rock, Texas, was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment for production of child pornography and 120 months’ imprisonment for distribution of child pornography in a case investigated by the FBI. Doyle was also placed on supervised release for life. The case was initiated when Doyle was chatting online with who he thought was a 15-year-old boy but turned out to be an undercover police officer in Milwaukee, Wis. Doyle was arrested when he traveled to Wisconsin to meet the “boy.” During a search of Doyle’s computer, images of other teenage boys engaging in sexually explicit conduct were discovered. One of the boys was identified in the Houston area. It was learned that Doyle would meet boys on the Internet and arrange to meet them in person where they engaged in sexual conduct and Doyle took photographs of that activity.

Receipt, Distribution, and Transportation of Child Pornography

If convicted of the charge of receipt, distribution or transportation of child pornography, a defendant faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

On March 15, 2011, WILLIAM SCOTT NELSON, 63, of Pearland, Texas, was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to attempted distribution of child pornography. Officers assigned to the Houston Metro ICAC accessed a file sharing program and found that Nelson had 74 files containing child pornography available for sharing over the Internet. A search warrant was run at his residence and thousands of images of child pornography were found along with 35mm slides.

On Nov. 16, 2010, SANDEEP VERMA, 42, a British national and legal permanent resident of the United States who last resided in Missouri City, Texas, was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to transportation of child pornography. An FBI agent in New York accessed a file-sharing program and found that Verma was offering child pornography images to share and trade over the Internet. When Verma re-entered the United States at Bush Intercontinental Airport from a business trip overseas, Houston ICE agents discovered child pornography on a CD he was carrying. Houston ICE and FBI agents then conducted a search of Verma’s computer from his home and found more than 100,000 images and videos containing child pornography.

On Oct. 19, 2010, FRANCISCO CANTU, 36, of Edinburg, Texas, a former Hidalgo County Detention Officer, was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography. McAllen ICE agents received information that Cantu had purchased a membership to a child pornography website. Federal agents served a search warrant at his residence and found approximately 3,500 images and 50 videos containing child pornography.

On Sept. 15, 2010, LUIS ARTURO INFANTE, 50, a Peruvian national, was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to transportation of child pornography. Infante arrived on a flight from Lima, Peru, at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Officials searched Infante’s baggage and found numerous CD/DVDs in his possession. An analysis was done of the CD/DVDs and more than 23,000 images and more than 580 videos containing child pornography were found. Two victims of child exploitation and whose images are circulated over the Internet sought restitution for counseling and other expenses relating to their victimization and Infante was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of the victims.

On July 29, 2010, KEVIN DEAN EVANS, 46, of Corpus Christi, Texas was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography. Evans came to the attention of the Corpus Christi Police Department and the FBI through his online communications with an undercover police officer in a chat room dedicated to persons interested in having sex with children. Officers conducted a search of Evans’ home and found images of child pornography which led to the admission by Evans that he had received child pornography images over the Internet.

On June 10, 2010, BRIAN S. BUTLER, 51, of McAllen, Texas, was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography. FBI agents searched Butler’s home and found more than 6,000 images and more than 200 videos depicting child pornography. Butler admitted to accessing a child pornography website and downloading child pornography to his home computer. Butler was also ordered to pay $1,750 restitution to two child victims depicted in his child pornography collection.

On April 9, 2010, ROGER LYNN NOBLE, 64, of Houston, was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography. Noble was discovered by law enforcement when he went to a chat room and met an undercover police officer posing as the father of two daughters. Noble expressed an interest in having sex with children and sent images of child pornography to the undercover officer. FBI agents then conducted a search of Noble’s residence where they found images of child pornography on his computer.

On April 15, 2010, WILLIAM LEROY FERGUSON, 56, of Flint, Mich., was sentenced to 109 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to transportation of child pornography. Ferguson was headed home when he arrived in the United States at Bush Intercontinental Airport on a flight from Colombia. During a search of his luggage, officers found images and videos of child pornography on the laptop computer he was carrying. ICE agents conducted a search of Ferguson’s residence in Michigan and found additional images and videos of child pornography.

On Nov. 19, 2009, TERRY LEE BIETENDORF, 50, of Ingleside, Texas, was sentenced to prison for 240 months’ to be followed by supervised release for life for receipt of child pornography. ICE agents began an investigation of Bietendorf when they received information that he had subscribed to a child pornography website. A search warrant was run at his house where more than 5,000 images and videos of child pornography were found on his computer.

On Oct. 26, 2009, STEVEN THOMAS BRUNSMA, 61, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to receipt and distribution of child pornography. The investigation began in North Carolina where images of child pornography were found on a computer owned by Brunsma that had been brought in for repairs. Brunsma was found living in Corpus Christi and a search of his computers found additional child pornography.

On Oct, 5, 2009, ROSELIO GARCIA, 56, of Port Lavaca, Texas, was sentenced to 135 months’ in prison for receipt of child pornography. The Corpus Christi Police Department received a lead from the Louisiana State Attorney General’s Office after they found provocative photos which included a truck bearing a Texas license plate registered to Garcia. The Corpus Christi Police Department and the FBI searched Garcia’s home and seized his computers where they found images containing child pornography.

On Aug. 24, 2009, MICHAEL MCWASHINGTON, 41, of Houston, was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment followed by a lifetime of supervised release for distribution of child pornography. McWashington came to the attention of the FBI during an undercover investigation involving peer-to-peer file sharing software where it was discovered that McWashington had images and videos of child pornography available to sharing and downloading over the Internet. FBI agents searched McWashington’s home and found child pornography on his computer. Agents also found that McWashington had been convicted in 1992 of sexual assault of a child.

On July 13, 2009, ERNEST GARZA, 23, of Robstown, Texas, was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment for receipt of child pornography. FBI agents found Garza during an undercover peer-to-peer investigation. FBI agents and Corpus Christi police officers searched Garza’s residence and found numerous images and videos of child pornography.

On July 7, 2009, TURNER CORNELL MOONEYHAM, 58, of Victoria, Texas, was sentenced to 220 months’ imprisonment for receiving child pornography and supervised release for life. Originally brought to the attention of ATF agents because of federal firearms violations, the FBI was asked to assist when child pornography was also found on a computer belonging to Mooneyham.

Possession of Child Pornography

If convicted of the charge of possession of child pornography, a defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

On Jan. 12, 2011, DONALD EARL MARSH, 62, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced to 216 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Marsh was also ordered to pay a fine of $25,000. Marsh came to the attention of the Corpus Christi Police Department and ICE when images of child pornography were discovered on an office computer accessed by Marsh. A search was conducted at his home where other images of child pornography were found on computer storage media. Marsh had a prior conviction from Oklahoma for forcible sodomy and assault to commit a felony rape both of which were perpetrated against children.

On July 7, 2010, BILLY FORREST MARQUIS JR., 51, of Edna, Texas, was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. ICE agents executed a search warrant at the home of Marquis after receiving information Marquis had subscribed to a child pornography website. ICE agents found more images of child pornography on the computer in his home and Marquis admitted to subscribing to approximately 10 child pornography websites. Marquis is a former teacher and band director.

On July 21, 2010, MICHAEL SIMEON SADOWSKI, 51, of League City, Texas, was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Sadowski came to the attention of Postal Inspectors when he ordered seven videos containing child pornography through the mail. As a result, Postal Inspectors, FBI agents, and officers with the Houston Metro ICAC and League City Police Department searched Sadowski’s residence. Officers found more than 1,000 images and hundreds of videos of child pornography in the house. Officers also found that Sadowski would make videos of young girls in the neighborhood and when he attended public events.

On March 17, 2010, DAVID KOCAYA, 54, of Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced to 204 months’ imprisonment to be followed by life on supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Kocaya was ordered to pay $20,000 restitution to one of the victims found in his collection. FBI agents searched Kocaya’s home in Brownsville and ICE forensic agents found more than 26,000 images of child pornography on an external hard drive in his home which included images depicting bondage and bestiality.

On March 31, 2010, FERNANDO GONZALEZ, 35, of Houston, was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Gonzalez, a former teacher with the Galena Park ISD, was brought to the attention of the Houston Metro ICAC when students at the school saw Gonzalez looking at child pornography on his school classroom computer. Officers recovered 288 3.5” computer disks containing more than 4,000 images of child pornography from Gonzalez that he stored in a closet in his classroom.

On Jan. 15, 2010, WELLES D. BACON, 72, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography. Bacon came to the attention of the Corpus Christi Police Department and ICE when they received information that Bacon had paid for membership to a child pornography website. A search warrant was executed at Bacon’s home where more child pornography was found. Bacon admitted to subscribing to several pay child pornography websites and that he had been acquiring and possessing child pornography for several years.

On Dec. 3, 2009, THOMAS DAVID HOGAN, 47, of Houston, was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment for possession of child pornography and life supervised release. Houston ICE agents received information that Hogan had purchased a membership to a child pornography website. The agents executed a search warrant at Hogan’s residence and found more than 3,000 images and more than 300 videos of child pornography. During the investigation, agents discovered that Hogan had been previously convicted in Texas in 1982 of rape.

On March 13, 2009, WARREN REID WILLIAMSON, 56, of Houston, was sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment and life supervised release for possession of child pornography. Williamson, a Houston attorney, was found by ICE agents to have paid to join a child pornography website. A search of Williamson’s residence recovered additional images of child pornography. ICE agents also learned that Williamson had been previously indicted for sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child but that the felony charges had been dismissed and Williamson had been convicted of misdemeanor assault.

(If a defendant qualifies as a second offender under the relevant statutes, he faces increased minimum and maximum penalties.)

Internet Enticement of a Minor

On Sept. 22, 2010, JOEL MICHAEL GARCIA, 29, was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and distribution of child pornography. The investigation was initiated by the Corpus Christi Police Department and FBI when Garcia began communicating online with someone Garcia believed would provide him access to a 12-year-old child for sex. That person turned out to be an undercover officer. Garcia sent images of child pornography to the undercover officer and arranged to meet the undercover officer in order to engage in sex with the minor child. When Garcia arrived at the meeting location he was arrested.

On Aug. 27, 2010, GEORGE IVAR MUSICK, 73, of Harker Heights, Texas, was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment after a jury found him guilty of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Musick, known by the screen name “seniorloverman” was discovered by an undercover Corpus Christi police officer in a chat room dedicated to adults interested in having sex with minors. Musick arranged to have sex with who he thought was the 13-year-old daughter of the undercover police officer. Musick was arrested when he traveled from Harker Heights, near Waco, to Corpus Christi with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with the 13-year-old.

On Dec. 20, 2010, ROBERT DOUGLAS DEWITT, 20, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor. Dewitt met a 12-year-old minor through MySpace and began communicating with her online and using a cell phone. ICE and the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office were notified and began an investigation. Dewitt encouraged the minor to send sexually explicit images of her to him and Dewitt sent sexually explicit photos of himself to the minor.

Sex Trafficking of a Minor

On Nov. 12, 2010, BARRY LERNARD DAVIS aka SIR LEWIS, 34, of Houston, was sentenced to 405 months’ imprisonment after being convicted by a jury of sex trafficking of a minor, transportation of a minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in prostitution, as well as coercion and enticement of an adult woman to engage in prostitution. Davis will be on supervised release for life when he is released from prison. The FBI and Houston Metro ICAC investigated this case which involved a 16-year-old girl, who had been reported to the police as missing and who was convinced by Davis to turn to a life of prostitution. Testimony during the trial showed that Davis drove the minor across state lines to New Orleans where she had sex with men for money and that she was also photographed nude in seductive settings for the purpose of advertisements for prostitution posted on the Internet. Evidence also showed that Davis repeatedly beat the adult woman and, one time, broke her nose. Davis also put a gun to her head and told her that if she ever left him he would hunt her down and kill her. Jurors learned that Davis forced both victims to be tattooed with either his name or initials, a common practice known as “branding.”

SORNA

On March 31, 2011, ROBERT EARL JOHNSON, 44, of Houston, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment to be followed by 20 years of supervised release for failing to register as a sex offender in Texas. An investigation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service found that Johnson had been convicted in 1995 in Michigan of criminal sexual conduct on a person under 13 years old and that he left the state of Michigan without notifying the proper law enforcement authorities and moved to Texas also without notifying and registering with the proper authorities.

On Nov. 17, 2010, KENNETH KLINE JR., 51, of Mission, Texas, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment. The U.S. Marshals Service discovered that Kline had been convicted in 2007 of indecent behavior with a juvenile by committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a juvenile under the age of 17 and was living in Mission. Law enforcement records showed that Kline had never registered with Texas authorities and that he had left the state of Louisiana without permission.