ICE “John Doe” predator gets 17 years for child pornography production

MONROE, La. — A Quitman man was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison Monday after previously pleading guilty to one count of producing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Shreveport (HSI), the Louisiana State Police and the Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher Nixon, 23, was ordered to serve 17.5 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Robert G. James in the Western District of Louisiana. In addition to his prison term, Nixon is required to serve 15 years of supervised release following the completion of his sentence.

Nixon pleaded guilty to the child pornography production charge in September after his identification and arrest in December 2013 following ICE’s first-ever public appeal using the HSI Operation Predator smartphone app. That appeal sought public assistance identifying a “John Doe” suspect seen in several child pornography videos initially discovered during an unrelated investigation by Canadian law enforcement in May 2013, which found embedded GPS-data in the videos that indicated they were produced in the Shreveport and/or Jonesboro areas. Nixon was identified less than four hours after the public appeal to those areas, and he was ultimately indicted on the child pornography production charge in January 2014.

“This case shows anyone who produces child pornography can and will be held accountable for their criminal actions regardless of where in the world the investigation leads or how much time has passed,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations New Orleans. “Sexual abuse scars children for life, and HSI will continue to use all the tools in its arsenal, to include the HSI Operation Predator smartphone app that helped identify and locate Mr. Nixon in this case, to identify the perpetrators of these horrendous acts and seek justice on behalf of their victims.”

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, between February 1, 2012 and March 30, 2012, Nixon produced child pornography using a male under the age of 18. The videos depicted sex acts between Nixon and an underage male.

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 10,000 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 2013, 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.