United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2009
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

JUDGE ORDERS EULESS, TEXAS, MAN DETAINED
ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGE

FORT WORTH, Texas — U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Bleil has entered an order of detention pending trial for Stacy Onken, 37, of Euless, Texas, who was arrested last week on a complaint charging him with receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

During an undercover investigation, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) discovered that a computer at the Onken residence was allowing child pornography to be downloaded from the Internet. At the hearings today, evidence was presented that Onken voluntarily stated that he had viewed and downloaded child pornography videos on his personal computers, using the peer-to-peer file sharing network, Limewire. Onken knew that files containing child pornography on his computers were being shared and “uploaded” by other Limewire users. Onken’s computers that were seized are still being forensically examined.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The penalty for receipt of child pornography is a maximum statutory sentence, per count, of not less than five or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment.

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

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