North Texas man pleads guilty to transporting child pornography

DALLAS – A north Texas man pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of transporting child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Following his plea, U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver remanded Guy Martin Johnson, 56, of Addison, Texas, into custody.

According to the terms of the plea agreement, if the court accepts Johnson's plea, the parties agree that the appropriate term of imprisonment is 144 months in federal prison. In addition, Johnson faces up to a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for Feb. 17 before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in late January when law enforcement officials in Florida were involved in an undercover investigation targeting individuals who prey on children via the Internet using popular social media sites. An officer, acting in an undercover capacity, entered a chat room, posing as a mother who had a son interested in sex with an adult male. That same day a man, later identified as Johnson, contacted the mother and over the course of several days, chatted with her and expressed his desire to have sex with her 14-year-old son.

A few days later, Johnson talked to the mother and asked her if she would like him to send her some videos and images of child pornography, and she agreed. At that time, Johnson sent the mother, via the Internet, 21 images depicting minors being sexually exploited.

The undercover officer, still posing as the mother, continued the chats with Johnson and discussed Johnson traveling to Florida to meet her son to have sex with him. However, Johnson never traveled to Florida.

In May, members of the Dallas Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force executed a search warrant at Johnson's home; Johnson admitted that he chatted over the Internet in a chat room to someone in Florida, but that it was all fantasy. An analysis of the computer equipment seized during the search revealed 149 images and two videos of child pornography. Johnson admitted that he distributed images to the mother that included bondage and other sadistic acts involving minors.

The case is being investigated by the Dallas Police Department's ICAC task force, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks 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, at 1-800-843-5678.