CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Bryan Martin, 40, of Portland, Texas, has been sentenced to federal prison for using a facility and means of interstate and foreign commerce, specifically a telephone and a computer connected to the Internet, in an attempt to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

Indicted in January 2012 and subsequently pleading guilty the next month, Martin admitted that between Sept. 1, 2011, and Dec. 9, 2011, he began communicating with a child he knew to be 12 years old over the telephone and the Internet. The communications were deemed inappropriate when discovered by the child’s parent and were reported to the police. Today, Senior United States District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced Martin to 10 years in prison to be followed by a 15-year-term of supervised release, during which special conditions related to his participation in sex offender treatment and to his employment, residence and access to children will be imposed. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for life. At sentencing today, Judge Rainey stated Martin had harmed the victim in the case as well as his own family, who would now suffer both emotionally and financially due his participation in these criminal acts.

The investigation into Martin was referred to Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and an undercover officer began communicating with Martin in the persona of the child. During the communications, Martin expressed his desire to engage in sexual acts with the child. After devising a plan to meet with the minor to engage in sexual acts, Martin was arrested at his home on Dec. 8, 2011, on state charges. Martin has since been transferred to federal custody following the filing of the federal criminal complaint Dec. 13, 2011. Martin will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of PrisonS facility to be determined in the near future.

The case was jointly investigated by the Corpus Christi Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lance Duke, 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc<http://www.usdoj.gov/psc>. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc<http://www.usdoj.gov/psc> and click on the tab "resources."