East Texas man sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography

BEAUMONT, Texas — An Orange, Texas, man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison for child pornography violations, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Eastern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Beaumont Police Department (BPD), and the Orange County Sheriff's Office (OCSO).

Riley Rich Gibson III, aka "Trae" Gibson, 30, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison on Jan. 26 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark. Gibson pleaded guilty on May 20, 2011, to producing child pornography.

According to court documents, on Sep. 23, 2010, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Gibson's residence located in the 1500 block of Link Avenue in Orange, Texas. A search of Gibson's personal computer revealed images of child pornography, some of which were produced by Gibson photographing a 3-year-old girl in sexually explicit poses using his cell phone camera. Gibson was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 6, 2010.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice, Eastern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

This investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.