LUBBOCK, Texas - In unrelated cases, two defendants appeared in federal court this afternoon and pleaded guilty to federal child pornography offenses, announced John Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Felipe Martinez Ramirez, 47, of Ozona, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy M. Koenig to one count of producing child pornography. Ramirez, who has been in custody since his arrest this past July, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set.
According to plea documents filed in the case, Ramirez enticed a minor female to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him at a residence in Ozona, and he used a cell phone to record that conduct reflected in a bathroom mirror.
In the other case, Jacob Seth Thornton, 28, of Lubbock, pleaded guilty before Judge Koenig to one count of receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He faces a statutory penalty of not less than five years or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. He remains on bond and a sentencing date was not set.
According to plea documents filed in his case, Thornton kept a laptop at his residence that he used, to among other things, search the Internet for images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Thornton used peer-to-peer file sharing software to receive the seven images described in the indictment, as well as many others.
The cases were 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) and the Crockett County Sheriff’s Office investigated the Ramirez case. ICE HSI and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office investigated the Thornton case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is in charge of prosecuting both cases.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
