United States Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña
Northern District of Texas

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

DALLAS MAN ADMITS TRANSPORTING AND SHIPPING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Defendant Had 1,000 Images and 100 Videos of Child Pornography

DALLAS — Ernest Mata, 27, pleaded guilty this afternoon before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to a felony Information charging one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Jackson, who has been in custody since his arrest by FBI agents last month, faces a statutory sentence of not less than five years, nor more than 20 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine and up to a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for May 31, 2012, before Judge Boyle.

According to documents filed in the case, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Mata’s residence in Dallas on December 20, 2011, and seized a desktop computer that Mata used that contained child pornography. Mata admitted he had been viewing child pornography since he was approximately 12-years-old and that he knowingly received and transported images of child pornography via peer-to-peer file-sharing software and email. He further admitted that he also searched for child pornography on Google and other search engines and websites. He admitted having 1,000 images and 100 videos of child pornography that included images of prepubescent minors and material that portrayed sadistic and/or masochistic conduct.

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

The FBI is in charge of the investigation; Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Miller is in charge of the prosecution.

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