Dallas man sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for possessing prepubescent child pornography

DALLAS — A Dallas man was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in May to possessing prepubescent child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.  This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered that Donald Record, 52, surrender to the Bureau of Prisons Jan. 7.

According to documents filed in the case, HSI’s Cyber Crime Center first identified an offender in the Dallas area.  This information led HSI to secure and execute a search warrant at Record’s residence March 6.  Record admitted that he used his laptop computer to trade images of child pornography on the Internet, and that he looked at child pornography when he was at his home in Dallas and at work at Southern Methodist University.  Record admitted he preferred child pornography involving 8 to 10 year olds.  He further admitted that he had about 100 images and one video of child pornography in his email account that he had received from others.

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 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.