Bryan resident sentenced for accumulating extensive collection of child pornography

HOUSTON – A 64-year-old Texan has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of receipt and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Scott Thomas Provost pleaded guilty Jan. 6.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner has now ordered Provost to serve 240 months for receiving child pornography and 120 months for possessing it. They will run concurrently with the exception of 22 months for a total of a 262-month-term of imprisonment. Before imposing the sentence, Judge Hittner emphasized Provost’s history of sexually deviant behavior.

Provost will be ordered to pay a restitution amount determined at a later date to identified victims and must serve 10 years on supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Provost will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

“Provost amassed one of the most extensive collections of child pornography videos and images we have seen in this district,” said Hamdani. “Each and every one of the files he had in his possession represents significant trauma and suffering to real children. Today’s sentence demonstrates our commitment to stop those who partake and assist others in viewing child pornography and the continued cycle of abuse these children endure.”

“This is, by far, the largest recovery of child pornographic material by investigators in our FBI Bryan office,” said Special Agent in Charge James Smith of the FBI. “This individual is one of the worst purveyors of child porn our agents have seen - it was his daily obsession. Unfortunately, with the ever-increasing number of online images depicting sexual abuse of children and an ever-increasing amount of online activity by people seeking to contact them, Provost's arrest and sentence doesn't cure the rampant epidemic that is the sexual exploitation of our children.”

Provost first came to the attention of law enforcement as an identified user of a peer-to-peer network known which uses a centralized data store to keep and deliver information without fear of censorship.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Provost’s residence in January 2022. They found approximately four terabytes of pornography consisting of many images of child pornography that Provost had downloaded and was storing on his personal hard drives.

Forensic analysis revealed 6,718 videos and 313,356 images that contained child sexual assault material. Some of the content included children who were less than 12 years old as well as infants and toddlers. Many images depicted young children in bondage and other forms of violence.

Provost has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Bryan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen M. Lansden prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.