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Press Release

Smith County Man Sentenced For Child Pornography Violations

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

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

 TYLER, Texas – A 45-year-old Flint, Texas, man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
 
Barry Porter Griffith pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography and was then sentenced to 42 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis.

                According to information presented in court, on Oct. 31, 2012, Texas Department of Criminal Justice network engineers detected significant Internet bandwidth being used by a state-owned computer to view pornography online.  The engineers identified the user as Griffith, a state parole officer.  They remotely viewed the web-sites that Griffith was accessing and determined that he was viewing child pornography from his office.  When approached by investigators from the Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Griffith admitted to the conduct.  He later met investigators at his residence, and surrendered two personal computers.  Forensic examination of the computers confirmed that they contained images depicting child pornography.

                This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

            This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Longview Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Coan.


Updated March 12, 2015