West Texas woman sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

ABILENE, Texas — A 25-year-old West Texas woman was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, and aiding and abetting.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Abilene Police Department investigated this case.

According to documents filed in the case, in July 2014, Misty Dawn Kelley, from Abilene, met an individual she knew as “Randy” on an online adult webcam site.  In November 2014, Randy began sending sexually explicit pictures of his 1- to 2-year-old daughter to Kelley.  Kelley continued to communicate with Randy on Kik and Skype, and in early July 2015, during a conversation with Randy on Kik, Kelley asked him to perform an act of sexual abuse on his daughter and send her a picture of it.  Randy immediately sent Kelley a picture of his daughter, depicting the result of his actions.

Kelley pleaded guilty in February to an indictment charging one count of producing child pornography, and aiding and abetting.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.

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.