Bedford, Texas Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison Without Parole for Producing Child Pornography

FORT WORTH—Thomas James Murphy, III, 26, of Bedford, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 360 months (30 years) in prison following his guilty plea in December 2009 to one count of producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. In addition, Judge Means ordered that Murphy, who has been in custody since his arrest on October 6, 2009, serve a lifetime of supervised release.  

According to documents filed in the case, In October 2009, FBI agents discovered a lead which indicated that Murphy was creating child pornography by using his own daughters. These videos and images showed sexually graphic conduct between Murphy and one of his daughters. Both daughters were under the age of 3 at the time of the creation of the child pornography.

When FBI agents visited the Murphy residence, he identified his two daughters as the minor children in the images and also identified himself as the naked adult male in the images. He admitted that he took images of himself sexually engaged with one of two daughters and sent those images over the Internet to another individual. An examination of his computer and related storage media was performed and agents discovered the images of Murphy with his two daughters.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.