Federal grand jury indicts North Texas man on producing child pornography charges

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal grand jury on Wednesday returned an indictment against a North Texas man alleging he produced and possessed prepubescent child pornography.

This indictment was announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.  This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jon Anthony Terry, 28, of Rockwall, Texas, is currently in custody on a related criminal complaint. A date has not yet been set for him to make his initial appearance.

The indictment charges Terry with four counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing prepubescent child pornography.  It alleges that, on one occasion in 2013 and three separate occasions in 2017, Terry induced three different prepubescent minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he recorded the conduct. The indictment also charges Terry with possessing images of child pornography in November 2017.

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the statutory penalty for the production count is not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in prison and for the possession count, not more than 10 years in prison. Both counts also carry a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern District of Texas, is in charge of the prosecution.

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 16,000 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 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 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 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.