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March 11, 2008
Federal jury convicts Texas man of possessing, transporting child pornography
Defendant faces up to 30 years in federal prison
DALLAS - A federal jury here today convicted a Grand Prairie, Texas, resident on both counts of a superseding indictment charging one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, Northern District of Texas, announced the conviction; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigated this case.
Kevin D. Moore, 45, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.
"We see more and more child predators being convicted and ultimately receiving heavy prison sentences," said John Chakwin Jr., special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Dallas. "These predators compromise the most precious natural resource this country has - our children. ICE will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, locate and prosecute anyone who sexually exploits children." Chakwin oversees 128 counties in north Texas and the State of Oklahoma.
The government presented evidence at trial that in September 2005, Moore traveled to Ottawa, Canada, with a laptop computer containing movie files of child pornography. When he arrived at MacDonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa, Moore told Canadian Border Services that he was entering the country for five days to install equipment. The immigration officer asked if he had anything prohibited on his computer and Moore advised that he didn't but that his brother also uses his laptop. Moore was then referred to a secondary screening where child pornography files were discovered on his laptop computer. The same day he was arrested.
The government also presented evidence that a total of 13 movie files containing child pornography were located on Moore's laptop computer. In addition, the computer had adult pornography and evidence-eliminating software called "History Kill" and "Spyware" software. A disk containing child pornography belonging to Moore was given to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials by Moore's family. The disk contained adult pornography, child pornography movies and still images.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative 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 also 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 10,900 individuals, including more than 1,080 in Texas.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
Moore, who is presently in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor on June 17 at 9:30 a.m.
U.S. Attorney Roper commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aisha Saleem and Alex Lewis, Northern district of Texas.
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