United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTS ENNIS, TEXAS, MAN
ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

Charges Include the Production of Obscene Images of the Sexual Abuse of Children

DALLAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas has returned a three-count indictment charging former Ennis, Texas, resident, Buddy Anderson, 39, with various child pornography/obscenity offenses, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Buddy Anderson and his wife, Sharon Lee Anderson, 38, were arrested on March 24, 2011, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents on related charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint. Law enforcement located the Andersons at a homeless shelter in Las Vegas where they had absconded after leaving their apartment in Ennis. Both remain in federal custody.

Sharon Anderson pleaded guilty this week to a one-count felony Information charging permitting the production of child pornography. She admitted that she permitted Buddy Anderson to take sexually explicit photographs of her minor daughter, who was between four and eight-years-old when the photos were taken. She faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than 15 or more than 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

According to documents filed in the case, persons hired to clean an abandoned apartment on North Clay Street in Ennis discovered child pornography photographs on the apartment’s porch that were discarded as garbage. Some of those photographs depicted a female child, approximately five-years-old and later identified as Sharon Anderson’s daughter, posing in a sexually explicit manner.

Count one of the indictment alleges that on a date between May 1999 and December 11, 2003, Buddy Anderson took sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe, who was then four to eight-years-old. Count two of the indictment further alleges that in July 2010, Buddy Anderson created a digital slide show of photographs focusing on the genitals of nude children. Count three of the indictment alleges that in February 2011, Buddy Anderson possessed five sexually explicit images of minors.

Count one, producing child pornography, carries a statutory sentence of not less than 15 or more than 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release; count two, producing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, carries a statutory sentence of not less than five years or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release; and count three, possession of child pornography carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. A trial date has not yet been set.

This 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 U.S. 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

ICE HSI and the Ennis Police Department are investigating. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille Sparks and Lisa J. Miller are in charge of the prosecution.

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