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

ABILENE, TEXAS, AREA MAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 15 YEARS,
IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE,
OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY CONVICTIONS

LUBBOCK, Texas — Dennis Ray Hagan, 40, of Eastland, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 184 months in prison, to be followed by a 30-year term of supervised release, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. In December, a jury convicted Hagan on all seven counts of an indictment charging various child pornography and child obscenity offenses and he was remanded into custody.

Specifically, the jury convicted Hagan on five counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of possession of child obscenity. From January 4, 2007 through June 6, 2007, Hagan collected more than 1500 images of child pornography from the Internet onto his personal 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven M. Sucsy and Amy Burch of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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