A 57-year-old man from Harlingen, Texas, has been sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Todd Edward Ellison pleaded guilty on December 17, 2024. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ordered that Ellison serve his sentence followed by a lifetime of supervised release. During this period, Ellison will be subject to restrictions limiting his access to children and the internet. The court noted that Ellison had previous convictions for child exploitative offenses on two separate occasions. He is also required to register as a sex offender, with restitution for victims to be determined later.
Authorities began investigating Ellison in May 2020 after suspecting he used social media to impersonate and harass a female victim. A search warrant led law enforcement to seize multiple digital devices from his residence, which contained more than 1,500 images and 21 videos of child pornography.
Ellison remains in custody awaiting transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations - Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitations Investigations Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ana C. Cano and Jose A. Esquivel prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.
"U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims." For more information about PSC or internet safety education resources, visit DOJ’s PSC page.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas is part of the U.S. Department of Justice under the Attorney General, focusing on prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil cases for the government across its offices in Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville.
According to its official website, the office employs over 200 attorneys serving a region covering 43 counties with a population exceeding nine million people.
Notable former leaders include Alamdar Hamdani (2022-2025) and Ryan Patrick as detailed on their history page.
