Carrollton man convicted of federal child pornography violations

SHERMAN, Texas – A Carrollton man has been convicted of federal child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.

Eric Victor Henry Blood, 43, was found guilty by a jury of three counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography following a trial before U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant on December 12, 2023.

According to information presented in court, Blood came to the attention of law enforcement when Google reported that his email address had been used to upload images and videos of child pornography onto a cloud storage account.  Homeland Security Investigations special agents served a federal search warrant at Blood’s residence in Carrollton in May 2022, during which Blood admitted to using that Google account.  He also ultimately admitted to accessing and possessing child pornography.  Agents located child pornography files on multiple electronic devices he owned and possessed.  Blood was charged with three counts of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

The case proceeded to trial on December 11, 2023 and, at the conclusion, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

Under federal statutes, Blood faces up to 20 years in federal prison at sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

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.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa Miller and Lesley Brooks.

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