United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

LOCAL MEN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR
POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

One Richardson, Texas, Resident Sentenced to 10 Years

DALLAS — In unrelated cases, two area men, Jeffrey Keith Hill, 33, of Richardson, Texas and Jerry Lee Shelton, 42, of Royce City, Texas, were sentenced today following their guilty pleas to possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Hill was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 10 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. While Hill had been on pretrial release since his arrest, he was ordered detained last week for violating conditions of that release. According to plea documents filed in the case, on February 4, 2008, special agents with the U.S. Secret Service executed a search warrant on his home that resulted in the identification of more than 600 images of child pornography found on various computer media seized. Hill admitted that some of the images portrayed sadistic and/or masochistic conduct.

Shelton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn to 97 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release; he has been in custody since his arrest in February 2009 on charges in a federal complaint. According to documents filed in the case, on November 6, 2008, officers with the Royse City Police Department responded to an assault call from a residence. The complainant reported that her boyfriend and roommate, Shelton, had assaulted her during an argument that morning when she observed Shelton viewing child pornography on their home computer. The same day, a search warrant was executed on Shelton’s residence and seized electronic equipment, including digital media, was found to contain more than 1000 images of child pornography, according to an affidavit filed in the case. Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted in the investigation.

These case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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

Both cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Miller.

# # #