North Texas man charged with federal child pornography offenses

FORT WORTH, Texas — A north Texas man was arrested Friday charged in a federal criminal complaint with transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldnana, Northern District of Texas.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hurst Police Department are investigating this case.

Randy Way Wesson, 28, from Hurst, Texas, made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton in federal court in Fort Worth Nov. 21. Wesson was ordered detained pending a detention and preliminary hearing set for November 25 before Judge Cureton.

According to the complaint filed in the matter, the investigation began when a detective with the Hurst Police Department received information form the Dallas Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit regarding a Cybertip received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). That referral indicated that a particular Instagram member had uploaded an image of child pornography through their server June 7. The investigation revealed that Wesson was the owner of that account.

Officers with the Hurst Police Department executed a state search warrant at Wesson's home on Nov. 18 to search for and seize evidence of child pornography. Wesson was present during the search. A preliminary examination of Wesson's desktop computer revealed numerous images of child pornography.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The statutory penalty for the offense as charged is not less than five or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem, 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.