East Texas man sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography

GALVESTON, Texas — A Winnie, Texas, man was sentenced on Tuesday to 151 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography, announced U. S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the Beaumont Police Department.

Donald Wayne Waters, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt Feb. 21. Waters was additionally ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and must register as a sex offender. Waters has been in custody and will be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The investigation began when the BPD, using peer-to-peer software, discovered an IP computer address registered to Donald Wayne Waters, sharing images and videos of child pornography. HSI Cyber Crimes Division assumed the investigation and executed a search warrant at Water's Winnie, Texas, residence. A large volume of child pornography was discovered during an onsite preview of the computers in his home. A subsequent forensic analysis of the computer resulted in discovering 604 digital images and five videos depicting children engaging in lewd exhibitions of genitalia, sexual intercourse and deviant sexual acts.

In support of his Nov. 21, 2011guilty plea, Waters admitted to searching for and downloading child pornography from the Internet and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography. He also admitted that he had six or eight child pornography websites saved as "favorites" on his computer.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetrius Bivins and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

This investigation is part of HSI'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, HSI 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.