San Angelo Man Admits Possessing Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — Joshua I. Suter, 24, of San Angelo, Texas, appeared in federal court in Lubbock on Friday, before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, and pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Suter, who remains on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Judge Cummings ordered a presentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the completion of that report. Today’s announcement is made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, while living in San Angelo, Suter owned a computer which he kept at his residence. That computer was connected to the Internet. In the course of using the Internet to search for depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Suter downloaded and viewed numerous child pornography videos.

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 is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is in charge of the prosecution.