Rockport Man Sentenced to Prison for Producing Child Pornography

HOUSTON—A 28-year-old Rockport man has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison without parole for production of child pornography, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

Kevin Paul James, of Rockport, Texas, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Janis Graham Jack to 262 months in federal prison without parole. James pleaded guilty July 21, 2010 admitting to having sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to two minors he “met” online and soliciting and receiving sexually explicit photographs from two minors between Sept. 1, 2009 and Dec. 18, 2009. In deciding upon the sentence she handed down today, Judge Jack focused upon the need to protect the public from James. In addition to the prison term, Judge Jack ordered James to register as a sex offender and to serve a lifetime term of supervised release during which he must abide by condition designed to protect minors and to limit internet access.

Law enforcement officials became aware of James’ criminal activities when family members of a victim reported the improper contact between James and their minor child. The investigation revealed the existence of sexually explicit texts and images sent by James to the minor. On Dec. 18, 2009 the Corpus Christi Police Department executed a state search warrant on James’ residence in Rockport, Texas which led to the discovery of several electronic media storage devices found to contain images of child pornography. The Corpus Christi office of the FBI followed leads created through the forensic analysis of the electronic media and were able to link those texts to production of actual images of child pornography.

At the time James pleaded guilty, James conceded he had accessed a social networking site on the Internet wherein he met two minor females with whom he began communicating. He lied to the minors about his age to gain access to the juvenile chat rooms where he met his victims. James knew he was communicating with minors and admitted sending sexually explicit photos of himself to the minors and requesting and receiving sexually explicit photographs from the minors in return.

Arrested on April 20, 2010 following the filing of a criminal complaint, James was first indicted on May 12, 2010 for possessing child pornography. A superseding indictment was returned on June 23, 2010 adding the producing child pornography offense to which he pleaded guilty in July. James has been in federal custody without bond since then and will remain in custody to begin serving his sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Duke prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States 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 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.