Teacher accused of child pornography offenses

HOUSTON – A 29-year-old College Station resident has been arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Daniel Byrd is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison at 2 p.m. today. Authorities took him into custody yesterday.

Byrd is employed as a teacher at Navasota High School.

The criminal complaint, filed today, alleges Byrd came to the attention of law enforcement upon discovery of a folder containing child pornography shared in a Kik chat group. Byrd was allegedly in control of that folder.

According to the complaint, Byrd used Kik and Telegram to view and download child pornography. He allegedly joined groups dedicated to sharing child pornography and would download content to his MEGA account. Byrd then posted links from his MEGA account into Kik groups, thereby allowing others to access folders containing child pornography, according to the charges.

If convicted, Byrd faces up to 20 years for distribution of child pornography as well a maximum of 10 years for possessing it.   

The FBI - Bryan resident agency conducted the investigation with the assistance of College Station Police Department. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo is prosecuting 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.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.