Retired Police Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison on Child Pornography Conviction

DALLAS, TX—James Robert Clayton, 59, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Judge Lindsay also ordered that Clayton serve a lifetime of supervised release and register as a sex offender. Clayton must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on July 6, 2010, to begin serving his sentence.

Evidence presented at today’s sentencing hearing showed that Clayton was a police officer with the Highland Park Police Department from September 1973 to July 1978 and an officer with the Plano Police Department from 1979 to February 2004.

According to documents filed, on December 28, 2007, while working in an undercover capacity, a law enforcement officer connected to the Internet and used Limewire peer-to-peer software to download images of child pornography from Clayton’s computer. In May 2008, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Clayton’s residence in Mesquite and seized his computer and related storage media. A forensic analysis was conducted.

In December 2009, Clayton pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, admitting that he possessed more than 350 images and three videos of child pornography, and that some of the images depicted prepubescent children as well as sadistic or masochistic conduct.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks.