Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 160 Months in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

DALLAS — A 63-year-old Dallas man, Larry Wayne Stinnett, was sentenced this afternoon by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 160 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in September 2015 to one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in April 2014 when North Texas Crime Stoppers received a tip that Stinnett had child pornography on his computer and had a Facebook account using a young girl as his profile picture.  An officer with the Dallas Police Department checked Stinnett’s Facebook account and saw the child described by the tipster posted as his profile picture and other photos of Stinnett in his apartment.  He also saw that dozens of young females were on Stinnett’s friends’ list.  Stinnett, as a sex offender, is required to disclose online identifiers upon sex offender registration.  Since he violated this requirement, he was arrested, and as he was being arrested, Stinnett told the officer, “I have a problem with children.”

A search warrant was executed at his home and a forensic preview performed on one of his computers revealed two identified images of child exploitation.  The computer and other media were seized and taken to the North Texas Regional Forensic Lab for analysis, which revealed more than 200 images of child pornography on the equipment.  Stinnett admitted he’d been collecting child pornography for approximately six to seven years. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”   

The Dallas Police Department and the FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks prosecuted.

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