March 23, 2007

Distributing child pornography nets Hockley man 17-year prison term

HOUSTON - A Hockley, Texas, resident was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release with strict conditions following his guilty plea for distributing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle, Southern District of Texas, announced this sentence; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the investigation.

Markus Roberts, 29, was sentenced March 22 by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison who ordered Roberts to serve 210 months in federal prison, without parole, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Roberts has also been ordered to register as a sex offender in any state in which he resides, is employed, carries a vocation or is a student. Furthermore, for the rest of his life, Roberts is prohibited from residing, working, accessing or loitering within 100 feet of school yards, parks, playgrounds, arcades or other places primarily used by children under the age of 18 or where children congregate. The court strictly prohibited Roberts from living in any home where a child under the age of 18 resides and from having contact with any minor without the express written permission of the court. The court placed further strict prohibitions on Roberts using a computer. Lastly, Roberts must participate in the collection of DNA samples and submit to mental health treatment as ordered.

Indicted in September 2006, Roberts pleaded guilty one month later to distributing images of child pornography on his computer from March 2005 through August 2005. Roberts was accused of distributing child pornography and possessing on a computer more than 2,500 sexually explicit images and movies of child pornography which depicted adult men engaged in sexual conduct with prepubescent children, some as young as infants.

ICE special agents with the Cyber-Crimes Operation Predator Squad, which focuses its attention on investigating offenses involving the exploitation of children, conducted the investigation leading to the charges against Roberts.

"ICE is dedicated to protecting our children and neighborhoods from sexual predators," said Robert Rutt, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Houston. "This significant sentence illustrates the seriousness of the offense."

ICE is a partner with the U.S. Attorney's Office and other federal state and local agencies in Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a Department of Justice nationwide initiative, launched by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales in February 2006, designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 9,700 individuals, including 862 in Texas.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

Roberts has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest in September 2006. He remains in custody to serve his sentence.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Richard Magness, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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