Alamdar Hamdani U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A Kansas resident has been sentenced for distributing child sexual assault material while in Laredo, Texas. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced the sentencing of 44-year-old Terry Lee Trower from Madison, Kansas.
Trower pleaded guilty on September 10, 2024. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced him to 146 months in federal prison due to the severity of the content he shared. Following his prison term, Trower will serve ten years on supervised release with restrictions on his access to children and the internet and will be required to register as a sex offender.
“In order to completely eliminate this terrible industry of exploitation, authorities need to target not just the supply side of the equation, but also the demand side,” said Ganjei. “As the defendant learned, if you committed a federal offense in the Southern District, we’re going to find you, wherever you are, even if it’s out of state.”
On December 13, 2023, law enforcement identified Trower sharing multiple files containing child sexual assault material (CSAM) in a public Kik chat room. The materials depicted children under age twelve engaged in sexual acts with adults and animals.
At the time of distribution, Trower was located in Laredo but was arrested at his Kansas residence where he admitted sharing child pornography found on Kik.
Trower remains in custody awaiting transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The FBI conducted this investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine A. Cortez prosecuting under Project Safe Childhood (PSC). This DOJ initiative launched in May 2006 aims to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse by marshaling resources across federal, state, and local levels for prosecution and victim rescue efforts.
For more information about PSC or internet safety education resources visit DOJ’s PSC page.
