North Texas man sentenced to 12 ½ years in federal prison for transporting child pornography

DALLAS — A north Texas man was sentenced Monday to 12 ½ years in federal prison following his August guilty plea to an Information charging one count of transporting and shipping child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay remanded Travis Olt, 40, of Irving, Texas, who had been released on bond, into custody. This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, in May, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a federal search warrant at Olt's residence and seized several computers and computer-related items. Olt admitted that he intentionally and knowingly received child pornography using a file-sharing computer software program.

Prior to the execution of the warrant, law enforcement was able to access and download child pornography that Olt received by using file-sharing software. Olt admitted that he believed he possessed about 1,000 videos of child pornography.

This investigation was conducted by HSI and the Plano (Texas) Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa J. Miller prosecuted this case.

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 1-866-347-2423 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, 1-800-843-5678.

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.