Fort Worth Man Remanded Into Custody Following His Guilty Plea In Child Pornography Case

FORT WORTH, Texas — Richard D. Anderson, 59, of Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty on Friday, before U.S. District Judge John McBryde, to an indictment charging one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Anderson faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Judge McBryde set a June 21, 2013, sentencing date and remanded Anderson into custody.

According to documents filed in the case, in September 2012, officers with the Fort Worth Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit executed a search warrant at Anderson’s home and seized computers and removable storage media. A forensic exam revealed images and videos of child pornography. Anderson admitted that he had downloaded images of child pornography from the Internet using newsgroups and that he’d moved images from his computer to his flash drive.

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 investigation is being conducted by the Fort Worth Police Department’s ICAC and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem.