Dallas man sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for transporting, shipping child pornography

DALLAS — A Dallas man was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn to 16 years in federal prison on a child pornography conviction.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Jeffrey Wyatt Savell II, 35, is in custody.  He pleaded guilty in March to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography.

According to documents filed in the case, this investigation began in April 2013 when a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), working online in an undercover capacity, noticed that a computer with a particular Internet Protocol address traced to a location in Dallas was sharing more than 200 files, some with names indicative of child pornography.

After further investigation, a federal search warrant was obtained and executed at Savell's residence in June 2013. Savell admitted using file-sharing networks to share files. He knew some of the videos depicted toddlers, but he was mostly interested in teens, primarily young boys.

A forensic examination of Savell's laptop computers revealed more than 750 images and 250 videos of child pornography. That analysis also revealed that 14 of the files depicted sadism and/or masochism, and 22 files depicted infants or toddlers.

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

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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, 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.