On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas issued a press release entitled, “Corpus Man Convicted of Downloading Child Pornography.” The press release was about a 46-year-old Corpus Christi man who admitted to possessing child pornography and downloading sexually explicit content involving young children.
In early 2016, an undercover FBI agent from the Dallas Child Exploitation Task Force was investigating a file sharing program where he was looking for individuals possibly sharing child pornography. After downloading multiple files from a device connected to the Corpus Christi man, a search warrant of the man’s residence was executed.
The search warrant yielded evidence nailing the man, including a two-hour video titled, “PEDOPHILIA Volume 1.” The man believed he downloaded the video and that he had accidentally downloaded images of child pornography. That wasn’t all. According to the State Attorney’s Office, law enforcement also found nine videos and 15 images of child pornography on the man’s smartphone.
On May 16, the Corpus Christi man’s guilty plea was accepted, with his sentencing date set for Aug. 21, 2018. As of this writing, the defendant faces a possible fine up to $250,000 and up to 20 years in federal prison.
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What Constitutes Child Pornography?
According to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), “Child pornography is a form of child exploitation. Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (persons less than 18 years old).”
Federal law strictly prohibits people from producing, distributing, importing, receiving, or possessing any child pornography images. If someone violates the federal child pornography law, they are committing a very serious crime and face severe penalties.
To learn more, check out the Citizen’s Guide to Federal Law on Child Pornography.
Did you accidentally download child pornography? To fight state or federal charges, contact The Zendeh Del Law Firm, PLLC at once!