Lubbock Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Six Production and Attempted Production of Child Pornography Offenses

LUBBOCK, TX—Lyle Shane Johnson, 45, of Lubbock, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to six counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, involving six separate victims, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Johnson faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than 15 or more than 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release on each count. Judge Cummings ordered a pre-sentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the completion of that report.

Johnson has been in custody since his arrest in June 2012 by officers with the Lubbock Police Department.

Johnson admitted that on December 25, 2009; July 27, 2010; August 27, 2010; January 24, 2011; March 16, 2011; and December 27, 2011, he used six individual minor females, including some younger than 12 year old, to produce images and videos of the minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At times, Johnson photographed himself, together with the minor female, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 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 is being conducted by the FBI and the Lubbock Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, is in charge of the prosecution.