Dallas Man Sentenced to 135 Months in Federal Prison for Transporting and Shipping Child Pornography

DALLAS—Thomas Roussin, 46, of Dallas, was sentenced late yesterday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 135 months in federal prison and a five-year term of supervised release, following his guilty plea in December 2011 to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Roussin has been in federal custody since the time of his guilty plea, as the court found that he would be a danger to the safety of the community and a flight risk if released from custody.

According to documents filed in the case, law enforcement began investigating Roussin when an officer with the Plano Police Department, who was working undercover using a peer-to-peer file sharing network, discovered that Roussin was logged on and was allowing the undercover officer to view and download images of child pornography from his computer.

Shortly thereafter, special agents with the FBI executed a search warrant at Roussin’s home and seized several computers and various items of computer equipment. Roussin was home at the time and admitted that he had been a paid subscriber to the file sharing program for several years. He also admitted that he had approximately 30 “friends” with whom he traded images. Roussin admitted that his primary interest is viewing children in diapers, but he also has photos of nude children, which he conceded are child pornography.

This matter 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 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 sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The investigation was led by the FBI and the Plano Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks was in charge of the prosecution.