East Texas man sentenced man to more than 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography

BEAUMONT, Texas — A Port Arthur, Texas, man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years and two months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Eastern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jonathan Lee Evans, 32, was sentenced to 122 months in prison July 25 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark. Evans pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to the child pornography charges.

According to court information, on Aug. 31, 2011, a federal search warrant was executed at Evans' residence on El Paso Avenue in Port Arthur, Texas. Several computers and related media storage devices were seized and a forensic analysis of the equipment revealed about 100 videos and 57,000 child pornography still images. Some of the images depicted prepubescent children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Sep. 21, 2011 charging Evans with federal violations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice, Eastern District of Texas, prosecuted the 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-DHS-2ICE 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, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.