North Texas man sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography

DALLAS — A north Texas man, who pleaded guilty in June 2014 to an Information charging one count of receiving child pornography, was sentenced Wednesday to serve six years in federal prison.

This sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney John Parker, Northern District of Texas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Sherman (Texas) Police Department investigated this case.

Michael Stratton, 32, from Cedar Hill, Texas, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons April 22.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in October 2013 while a detective with the Sherman Police Department was investigating individuals using a specific file-sharing program and the Internet to receive and distribute child pornography. This investigation linked Stratton to a computer that was made available to share images and videos of child pornography. HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Stratton’s home and seized a laptop computer, camera, hard drives and a thumb drive.

Stratton admitted that he had been using the file-sharing network to view and download images and videos of child pornography since 2009. He further admitted that his collection was mostly of prepubescent children.

An analysis revealed more than 180 videos and 20 images of child pornography on Stratton’s computer, hard drives and thumb drive. Included in the collection were nine videos of sado-masochistic conduct and at least one depicting infants or toddlers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE 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-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

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.