North Texas man sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on child pornography conviction

DALLAS — A north Texas man was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to 14 years in federal prison following his child pornography conviction, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Sherman (Texas) Police Department investigated this case.

Mark Stamps, of Garland, Texas, 54, pleaded guilty in May 2014 to a felony information charging one count of transporting and shipping child pornography.   He has been in custody since his arrest in April 2014.

This investigation began when a Sherman Police Department detective identified a computer that appeared to be sharing child pornography.  The detective was able to obtain a list from the shared folder that contained at least 90 files of known or suspected child pornography.

Further investigation revealed that the computer belonged to Stamps.  Based on this information, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Stamps’ residence April 10, 2014 and located child pornography videos on an external hard drive.

Stamps admitted that at the time of the search, he knowingly had more than 2,500 child pornography images and videos on his computer and other media.  Some of those images and videos depicted sadistic and/or violent content, and some of the files depicted infants and toddlers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted 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.