Nederland, Texas Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Text Photos

BEAUMONT, TX—A 63-year-old Nederland, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Edward Lee Caldwell, Sr., pleaded guilty on April 27, 2011 to distributing child pornography and was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison on Aug. 2, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield.

According to information presented in court, on Sep. 15, 2010, law enforcement officers received information from an individual in Ohio indicating they had received a text message photo from Caldwell of a pre-pubescent child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A federal search warrant was executed at Caldwell’s apartment on 1st Avenue in Nederland and his cellular phone was seized. A forensic analysis of the cellular phone revealed 486 images and 32 videos of child pornography, some of which included prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and some in bondage, or sadistic or masochistic situations. Caldwell was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 12, 2010.

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 (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.

This case was investigated by FBI and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Baylor Wortham.