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April 29, 2013Tyler, TX, United StatesChild Exploitation

East Texas man indicted for child exploitation violations

TYLER, Texas — An east Texas man was arrested on child exploitation charges, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Eastern District of Texas Monday.

This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Anderson County Sheriff's Office.

Robbie Newby, 45, from Grapeland, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 17 and charged with four counts of sexually exploiting a child, and one count of possessing child pornography. Newby had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love April 29.

According to the indictment, from January to March 2012, Newby coerced or persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could produce visual depictions of such conduct. This conduct is alleged to have occurred in Anderson County, Texas.

If convicted, Newby faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison for each of the exploitation charges, and up to 10 years for the possession charge.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Kummerfeld, Eastern District of Texas.

An arrest, indictment, or complaint should not be considered as evidence of guilt; all persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

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