CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Jon Michael Charles, 26, of Alice, has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced Charles to 60 months in federal prison. Charles was further ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term and must register as a sex offender.
At the time of his plea, the court heard that FBI agents in Corpus Christi office received a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an individual using an email address to upload several images of child pornography to a file storage service provided by Google.
Agents learned the email address was associated with Charles and in July 2014, executed a search warrant at his residence, at which time they seized various electronic devices. Forensic analysis on those devices revealed more than 300 images and 10 videos of child pornography.
Charles has remained in custody since his arrest and will remain there pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The charges against him were the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Corpus Christi Police Department’s 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."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
