LUBBOCK, Texas - Justin Turcheck, 29, of Abilene, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 78 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in August 2014 to one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.
Turcheck is currently in federal custody. Judge Cummings revoked his pre-trial release last month, finding that Turcheck had violated his conditions of release.
Turcheck admitted that in mid-June 2012, he possessed an external hard drive that contained numerous images of child pornography.
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."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Abilene Police Department, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
