United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

AMARILLO, TEXAS, MAN SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON ON
CHILD PORN AND CHILD OBSCENITY CONVICTIONS

AMARILLO, Tx. - Donald Dean Rowell, 36, of Amarillo, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to a total of 168 months (14 years) in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Judge Robinson also ordered that Rowell serve a lifetime of supervised release. In March, a federal jury in Amarillo convicted Rowell on all four counts of a superseding indictment charging him with two counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of receipt of child obscenity and one count of possession of child pornography. Rowell has been in custody since his conviction.

The government presented evidence at trial that from 2004 until mid-2006, Rowell knowingly received more than 600 computer graphic images and 30 video files of child pornography depicting minor children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which he downloaded from the Internet onto his home computer. In addition, the jury found that three of those images met the definition of child obscenity.

On July 24, 2006, a federal search warrant was executed at Rowell’s residence and law enforcement agents seized eight hard disk drives. An analysis of the hard drives revealed approximately 1400 images of child pornography that had been obtained form the Internet and approximately 300 child pornography video/movie files.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched 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/.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, assisted by agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christy Drake and Vicki Lamberson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Amarillo, Texas.

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