Former west Texas man admits possessing child pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — A former west Texas resident appeared in federal court Thursday and pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Miles Robert Flinn, 25, formerly of Lubbock, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings also ordered a pre-sentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the report is completed. Flinn, who is on bond, is currently a resident of Bradenton, Fla.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, while living in Lubbock, Flinn used a file-sharing program on his computer in his residence to download images and videos from the Internet, including child pornography. On July 26, 2011, child pornography was found on Flinn's computer hard drive.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Lubbock Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force are investigating.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is in charge of the prosecution.

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, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

HSI is a founding member and the U.S. representative 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.