Former north Texas youth minister indicted on child pornography charges

DALLAS — A former north Texas youth minister was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on child pornography offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Garland Police Department investigated.

Derek Hutter, 37, was charged with one count of attempted production of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography.  He was arrested on those charges and entered a not-guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney Dec. 18.

Hutter worked as a youth minister at the South Garland Baptist Church in Garland, Texas.

The indictment alleges that about Aug. 14, 2014, Hutter sent an email to Jane Doe #1, a minor girl, requesting she take sexually explicit photos of herself and text them to him.  The indictment further alleges that about Sept. 14 Hutter received images of child pornography on his email account

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury.  A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.  If convicted, however, the statutory penalty for the attempted production count is not less than 15 or more than 30 years in federal prison, and not less than five or more than 20 years on the receipt count.  In addition, each count carries a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.

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 12,000 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 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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.