United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2009
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

FEDERAL JUDGE SENTENCES 60-YEAR-OLD DALLAS MAN
TO SERVE MORE THAN SIX YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

DALLAS — Michael Belden, 60, of Dallas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey to 78 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Belden must also register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime of supervised release. He was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on December 4, 2009.

According to documents filed when Belden entered his guilty plea, inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service seized two computers belonging to Belden, one from his residence and another from his workplace. A forensic exam showed that he possessed approximately 500 images and 180 videos of child pornography, which he admitted obtaining from the Internet. Belden paid for access to Internet websites in order to obtain the child pornography and then downloaded it from his work computer onto a CD and viewed the images from his home computer.

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

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks.

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