United States Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña
Northern District of Texas

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2012
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

GARLAND MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSE

DALLAS, Texas — James Armstrong Sparkman, of Garland, Texas, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma C. Ramirez to one count of receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. He faces a statutory sentence of not less than five or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to a lifetime of supervised release. Sparkman, who remains in federal custody, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey on May 4, 2012.

According to documents filed in the case, Sparkman admitted that he used the Internet and file-sharing software to download video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He also admitted that he possessed well over the equivalent of 600 images of child pornography and that these images/videos included images of prepubescent minors and material that portrayed sadistic and/or masochistic

This matter 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 case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Garland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Miller is in charge of the prosecution.

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