Kansas Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison on Child Pornography Charges

In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced 48–year–old Edward Eugene Lowe, Jr., to 40 years in federal prison on child pornography charges, announced United States Attorney John F. Bash and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.

United States District Judge Xavier Rodriguez also ordered that Lowe pay $10,000 restitution to his victim.

On March 15, 2018, Lowe pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of production of child pornography.  By pleading guilty, Lowe admitted that on June 25, 2010, he sent images of child pornography to a minor male victim.  Lowe further admitted that on July 11, 2010, he persuaded the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.

FBI agents were alerted after images of the minor were discovered on the minor’s iPad.  Further investigation revealed that the minor was communicating with the defendant.  Lowe, who at the time resided at a state hospital in Kansas after being committed as a sexual offender, had paid individuals to smuggle cellular phones into the hospital so that he could communicate with underage males and solicit images of child pornography.

On October 4, 2011, FBI agents executed a search warrant and seized Lowe’s phone.  A forensics review of the phone revealed sexually explicit images and email communications between Lowe and the minor since May 2010.

The FBI’s San Antonio Child Exploitation Task Force investigated this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.