AMARILLO, Texas - Aaron Robert Wells, 23, of Borger, Texas, appeared today in federal court, before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson, and pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography. Wells, who is on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of not less than five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing will be set at a later date. U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement today.
According to documents filed in the case, in March 2012, Wells was contacted online by an undercover law enforcement officer through file sharing software. Wells provided the undercover officer passwords necessary to download images of child pornography that Wells had saved his computer and had made available for online sharing. Among other images, the undercover officer downloaded two images of minor males engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
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 FBI is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, is in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
