Two Men Sentenced to Maximum Prison Time for Sexually Exploiting Children

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that in separate criminal matters filed in El Paso, Texas, Jeffrey Robert Douglas, of El Paso, and Eric Burdett Tucker, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, were each sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for crimes involving children. Both appeared before U.S. District Judge David Briones on Wednesday who, subsequent to the prison terms, ordered that each defendant be placed under supervised release for a period of 10 years.

On October 29, 2008, Douglas pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. On April 5, 2005, a search warrant was executed at Douglas' residence, seizing all computer media. A forensic search revealed Douglas' computer media had 522 images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. The forensic analysis revealed that the images were downloaded from an Internet relay chat.

Tucker also pleaded guilty on October 29, 2008 to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Tucker admitted that on July 11, 2008, he began chatting with a person on the Internet that he believed was a 14-year-old female. However, the 14-year-old female was an FBI special agent acting in an undercover capacity. Tucker subsequently traveled from Alamogordo, New Mexico to El Paso to engage in sexual conduct with the person he believed was a 14-year-old female. When Tucker arrived in El Paso on August 1, 2008, FBI special agents arrested him.

These cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted for the government by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Gregory as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative.

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. The threat of sexual predators soliciting children for physical sexual contact is well-known and serious; the danger of the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography is equally dramatic and disturbing. The response to these growing problems must be coordinated, comprehensive, and robust. It must aim to investigate and prosecute vigorously, and protect and assist victimized children. At the same time, it must recognize the need for a broad, community-based effort to protect our children and to guarantee to future generations the opportunities of the American dream.