James T. Jacks
Acting United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, MAN ADMITS POSSESSING CHILD PORN

Defendant Faces Up to 10 Years in Federal Prison, Without Parole

FORT WORTH, Texas — Robert Cesare, of North Richland Hills, Texas, was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde, following Cesare’s guilty plea to possessing child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Cesare, 38, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McBryde on October 2, 2009.

According to documents filed in court, based on a lead from the ICE Cyber Center in Washington, D.C., in mid-January 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents visited Cesare’s residence. The lead concerned a target at the Cesare residence, who was purchasing subscriptions to a child pornography website via the Internet. An examination of Cesare’s work computer and related storage media was performed and agents discovered child pornography. Cesare admitted that he purchased subscriptions to child pornography via the Internet and that he acquired the images of child pornography that were on his computer from the Internet from his place of employment.

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 is being investigated by ICE and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.

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