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Press Release

San Angelo, Texas, Man Sentenced To 46 Months In Federal Prison On Federal Child Pornography Conviction

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas

LUBBOCK, Texas — James Arthur Abney, 53, of San Angelo, Texas, was sentenced this morning, by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, to 46 months in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release, following his guilty plea in June 2013 to 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.

According to documents filed in the case, while Abney resided in Ballinger, Texas, he used cell phones to search the Internet for images of child pornography.  He saved images of child pornography on his cellphones and downloaded some of the images onto his computer’s hard 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 was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Ballinger Police Department and the Runnels County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy prosecuted.

Updated June 22, 2015