Former Police Officer Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison And Fined $5,000 For Producing And Possessing Child Pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas — Philip Woolery, a former officer with the Grapevine, Texas, Police Department, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 180 months (15 years) in federal prison and fined $5,000 following his guilty plea in March 2013 to an Information charging one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Woolery, 47, has been in custody since his arrest in October 2012 at his residence in Crowley, Texas, by U.S. Postal Inspectors during the execution of a federal search warrant.  He admitted that in August 2011 he used his digital camera to record a minor male engaging in sexually explicit conduct in a swimming pool.  In addition, Woolery admitted that in October 2012, he possessed a laptop computer that contained a sexually explicit image of a nude minor male and that he used that computer and the Internet to search for websites containing child pornography.

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.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted.