North Texas woman sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

DALLAS — A North Texas woman was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to 60 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Cleburne (Texas) Police Department, and the Jacksonville (Florida) Police Department.

Linzi Ladawn Shifflett, 29, from Cleburne, Texas, has been in custody since October 2016.

According to the plea agreement factual resume and information presented at the sentencing hearing, from at least Feb. 25 through Sept. 28, 2016, Shifflett molested a 4-year-old minor child who was in Shifflett’s custody and took sexually explicit photographs and videos of the child. Shifflett then sold the child pornography for nominal amounts of money to a man in Florida. As a part of the sentence, the court ordered Shifflett to pay $194,815.17 in restitution to the victim. Shifflett pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography.

Michael Eugene Williams, the man in Florida who paid for the child pornography, is being separately prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. He has pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking a child. His sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for Jan. 29, 2018.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie L. Hoxie, 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 16,000 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 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

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 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.