Rockport Man Gets 30 Years for Producing Child Pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 28-year-old Rockport man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of sexual exploitation of a child, otherwise known as production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Calvin Nesmith pleaded guilty Nov. 20, 2015. 

Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack handed Nesmith a sentence of 360 months in federal prison. At the hearing, additional information was presented including evidence that he possessed more than 3,000 images and more than 360 videos of child pornography. Testimony was also provided that Nesmith requested advice on how to seduce a 14-year-old girl and discussed his desire to sexually abuse an eight-year-old relative. The court also heard about the images on his cell phone, much of which depicted prepubescent girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adult men, including bondage with handcuffs, etc. The further heard an impact statement from the victim. Nesmith was also ordered to serve the rest of his life on supervised release, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet and will be required to register as a sex offender.

In June 2015, Nesmith was communicating with a person he believed was the mother of two minor female children. In reality, he was actually talking to an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent from Laredo. During the course of the communications, Nesmith made arrangements to meet and engage in sexual activity with the mother’s minor female children. 

Nesmith also sent sexually explicit photographs depicting images of child pornography through text messages and emails to the undercover agent. The images were taken of a 14-year-old female while she was sleeping.

He was apprehended as he arrived at the designated meeting place. At the time of his arrest, Nesmith had several electronic devices and condoms with him. A forensic search of those electronic devices led to the discovery of an electronic image depicting Nesmith involved in sexually explicit conduct with a female minor. 

Nesmith was arrested on the federal charges in September 2015 and has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Corpus Christi Police Department – Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, 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. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."