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

DALLAS AREA MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY 12 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
FOR RECEIVING IMAGES OF CHILD PORN OVER THE INTERNET

DALLAS — Timothy Ehrich, 24, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 140 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, on a child pornography conviction, announced James T. Jacks, acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Ehrich, a resident of Mesquite, Texas, pled guilty in September to one count of receipt of child pornography. Today, Judge O’Connor remanded Ehrich, who had been on bond, to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to documents filed in the case, on November 27, 2006, agents executed a search warrant at Ehrich’s residence and at that time he told agents that he used the computer in his bedroom and the Google “Hello” software program to send and receive child pornography images over the internet. A forensic exam of his computer revealed more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of infants. Ehrich also agreed that he possessed sadistic images.

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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem prosecuted the case.

###