Southeast Texas man sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Southeast Texas man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. 

This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Corpus Christi Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Calvin Nesmith, 28, of Rockport, Texas, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack to 360 months in federal prison. Additional information presented in court showed that Nesmith possessed more than 3,000 images and more than 360 videos of child pornography. Testimony was also showed that Nesmith requested advice on how to seduce a 14-year-old girl and discussed his desire to sexually abuse an 8-year-old relative. The court also heard about the images on his cellphone, much of which depicted prepubescent girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adult men, including bondage with handcuffs and an impact statement from the victim.

In June 2015, Nesmith was communicating with a person he believed was the mother of two minor girls. In reality, he was actually talking to an undercover HSI special agent from Laredo, Texas. During these communications, Nesmith made arrangements to meet and engage in sexual activity with the mother's minor daughters.

Nesmith also sent sexually explicit photographs depicting images of child pornography through text messages and emails to the undercover special agent, which included a 14-year-old girl while she was sleeping.

Nesmith was apprehended as he arrived at the designated meeting place. At the time of his arrest, Nesmith had several electronic devices and condoms with him. A forensic search of those electronic devices led to the discovery of an electronic image depicting Nesmith involved in sexually explicit conduct with a female minor.

Nesmith was arrested on the federal charges in September 2015; he has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Nesmith will serve the rest of his life on supervised release, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet, and will be required to register as a sex offender. Nesmith pleaded guilty to the charges Nov. 20, 2015.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, Southern 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 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 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.