Nicholas J. Ganjei United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A 31-year-old former resident of College Station has been sentenced to federal prison for sharing child sexual abuse material online, according to U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Daniel Byrd, who pleaded guilty on November 25, 2024, received a sentence of 60 months in prison from U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt. The court noted that Byrd "may never have control of his addictive conduct, but the responsibility lies with Byrd himself." After completing his prison term, Byrd will serve 10 years of supervised release with specific restrictions on his access to children and the internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The investigation into Byrd began when authorities found he had shared numerous images of child sexual abuse material on several online platforms. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Byrd's residence, seizing his electronic devices. The images discovered included depictions of sexual contact between prepubescent males and between adult and prepubescent males.
Byrd admitted to utilizing Telegram and Kik to view and download child sexual abuse material on his smartphone. He also confessed to creating a Mega account, a cloud-based storage service, to store and distribute the material by sending links to others.
At the time of his arrest, Byrd was employed as a teacher in the Navasota area. Following the sentencing, which occurred after he was previously released on bond, Byrd was taken into custody and will remain there until his transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI with assistance from the College Station Police Department and the Brazos County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Leo and Jay Hileman prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood (PSC). This initiative, launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006, addresses child sexual exploitation and abuse. For further information about PSC and internet safety education, resources are available on the DOJ's PSC webpage.
