LUBBOCK, Texas - Tyrell Daniels, 20, of Abilene, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, to 188 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2013 to one count of producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Daniels has been in custody since his arrest in November 2013 on a related federal criminal complaint. A federal grand jury indicted him later that month on one count of enticement of a child and one count of production of child pornography. In accordance with the plea agreement, the enticement charge was dismissed.
According to plea papers filed, after meeting a 12-year-old female child, “Jane Doe," online, in September 2013, Daniels communicated with her for several days using his cell phone. During that time, Daniels often discussed his desire to engage in sexual intercourse with Jane Doe, even though she had informed him that she was only 12-years-old.
On Sept. 12, 2013, Daniels used Internet messaging to ask Jane Doe to send a topless photo of herself to him. She complied, and Daniels told her that he would not post her pictures on the Internet if she would send him a more sexually explicit photo of her genitals. While Jane Doe sent Daniels a sexually explicit photo, he told her that it was not explicit enough. Jane Doe did not send him any additional photos.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources."
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Santa Anna Police Department and the Abilene Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
