West Texas man sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for possessing child pornography

MIDLAND, Texas — A local man was sentenced Thursday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

This case was investigated by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Corey Dean Farmer, 37, will serve 151 months in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for possessing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Robert A. Junell also ordered that Farmer pay $157,143.23 restitution to his victims.

Farmer pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography Nov. 1. He admitted using multiple peer-to-peer computer programs to find child pornography images starting about March 2012. After executing a search warrant May 9, 2013 at his residence and seizing his computer, HSI special agents discovered about 1,300 images depicting child pornography.

Farmer said that because he didn't turn off the "sharing" feature of his peer-to-peer software, others around the world were able to acquire child pornography images from his computer.

"This 12-year sentence is a just one for sexually exploiting children by freely trading their images with predators worldwide," said Dennis A. Ulrich, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso. "Targeting these horrific crimes against children is a high priority for HSI. We will continue to dedicate law enforcement resources to identify and bring to justice child predators who traumatize and victimize children."

Ulrich oversees HSI criminal investigations in west Texas and the state of New Mexico.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Berry, Western 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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, HSI agents arrested more than 2,000 individuals 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.