Dallas Man Faces Up To 20 Years In Federal Prison For Possessing Prepubescent Child Pornography

DALLAS — Donald Record, 52, of Dallas, appeared in federal court today and pleaded guilty to an Information charging one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, law enforcement received information from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cyber Center identifying an offender in the Dallas area.  The investigation led law enforcement to secure and execute a search warrant at Record’s residence on March 6, 2014.  Record admitted that he used his laptop computer to trade images of child pornography on the Internet, and that he looked at child pornography when he was at his home in Dallas and at work at SMU.  He admitted his age preference was 8 – 10 year olds.  He further admitted that he had approximately 100 images and one video of child pornography in his email account that he had received from others.

Record faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.  He will remain on bond pending sentencing, which is set for September 3, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) HSI conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is prosecuting.