East Texas man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a child

BEAUMONT, Texas — An east Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison for child exploitation violations, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Eastern District of Texas.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Beaumont Police Department.

Joseph Lloyd White, 44, from Orange, Texas, pleaded guilty Dec. 4, 2014 to attempted sexual enticement of a child and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison April 9 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, on May 28, 2014, law enforcement officers were alerted by a parent of possible child exploitation after discovering sexually explicit photos on their 9-year-old child’s cellular phone.  A forensic analysis of the phone and investigation revealed White had met the child using an online messenger site.  Even after learning the child was a minor, he continued to send sexually explicit photos of himself to the child and persuaded the child to send photos containing nudity to him.  A detective, pretending to be the child, began communicating with White and verified White knew the child was only 9 years old.  On June 6, 2014, White traveled to an apartment complex in Beaumont where he was arrested.  White admitted that he had come to the apartment complex to have sex with the 9-year-old child.  White was indicted by a federal grand jury Aug. 6, 2014.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke, Eastern District of Texas.

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 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 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1000 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. 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.