Ocean Springs man pleads guilty to possession of child pornography

GULFPORT, Miss. – An Ocean Springs, Miss., man pleaded guilty Tuesday in U. S. District Court to possessing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

HSI special agents arrested Robert Ormsbee, 60, Feb. 1 for possession of child pornography following the execution of a federal search warrant. A review of Ormsbee's computers and computer storage media revealed that he accessed and stored in excess of 3,000 images and 100 videos depicting child pornography. Ormsbee was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Mississippi Jan. 26.

"People who download and possess child pornography are truly putting the world's youth at risk," said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI New Orleans. "We're talking about images and scenes involving real children who are being sexually abused and exploited in horrific ways. HSI will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners here and around the world to target those who commit these types of crimes and see they are brought to justice." Parmer oversees HSI activities in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

Ormsbee is scheduled to be sentenced July 26.

This case was investigated by HSI, with assistance provided by the Mississippi Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenda Haynes, Southern District of Mississippi.

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 its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.