North Texas man sentenced to 8 years for possessing child pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas — A north Texas man was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release following his June guilty plea to possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, the investigation began when an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit downloaded video files and still images of child pornography from an IP address assigned to Marcos A. Flores, 19, of Keller, Texas. The officer was acting in an undercover capacity and using file-sharing computer software. A search warrant was then executed at Flores' residence and computers were seized. In February 2012, a forensic examination determined that there were images of child pornography on the computer and Flores admitted that he knowingly possessed child pornography.

The Fort Worth Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem, Northern District of Texas, was 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 or http://www.cybertipline.com.