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December 16, 2013Corpus Christi, TX, United StatesChild Exploitation

Southeast Texas man sentenced to more than 5 years in prison for possessing child pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A local man was sentenced Monday to more than five years in prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (CCPD-ICAC).

Rex D. McBride, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to 63 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. McBride pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 18.

On Nov. 12, 2012, CCPD-ICAC detectives were conducting an undercover investigation into persons trading child pornography on the Gnutella network. At that time, detectives identified an online user, later identified as McBride, who was offering child pornography for distribution. On three occasions in late 2012, detectives successfully downloaded child pornography from McBride.

On March 20, 2013, a search warrant was executed, during which McBride admitted to downloading and viewing child pornography on the Internet through file-sharing computer software. A forensic evaluation of McBride’s computer led to discovering nearly 1500 images of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Duke, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

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.

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.

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