Orange, Texas Man Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of a Child

BEAUMONT, Texas – A 44-year-old Orange, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child exploitation violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Joseph Lloyd White pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2014, to attempted sexual enticement of a child and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, on May 28, 2014, law enforcement officers were alerted by a parent of possible child exploitation after discovering sexually explicit photos on their 9-year-old child’s cellular phone.  A forensic analysis of the phone and investigation revealed White had met the child using an online messenger site, and even after learning the child was a minor, had continued to send sexually explicit photos of himself to the child and persuaded the child to send photos containing nudity to him.  A detective, pretending to be the child, began communicating with White and verified White knew the child was only nine years old.  On June 6, 2014, White traveled to an apartment complex in Beaumont where he was arrested.  White admitted that he had come to the apartment complex for the purpose of having sex with the 9-year-old child.  White was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 6, 2014. 

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 the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Beaumont Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke.

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