United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

DUNCANVILLE CITIZENS’ POLICE ACADEMY GRADUATE
SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 12 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON,
WITHOUT PAROLE, ON CHILD PORN CONVICTION

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that George W. Gropp, age 68, was sentenced this morning by the Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater, United States District Judge, to 151 months imprisonment and ordered to pay a $17,500.00 fine. Gropp pled guilty in December to an indictment which charged him with one count of transporting child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. Judge Fitzwater ordered that Gropp surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on May 16, 2006.

The investigation into Gropp’s activities began after a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, using peer-to-peer file sharing software called Limewire, accessed shared files from Gropp, another Limeware software user. Limewire software enables its uses to access each other’s “shared” files, which are contained in a folder specially designated for file sharing. In November 2005, an FBI agent uploaded five images of child pornography from Gropp’s “My Shared Folder” and traced the IP address associated with those images to Gropp’s residence in Duncanville, Texas. Gropp led agents to his closet, night stand and to several leather cases where he stored printed pictures of child pornography, magazines, and CDs containing child pornography. Upon examining the CDs and Gropp’s computer, agents identified numerous still images and movies depicting child pornography. Gropp possessed more than five CD-Roms containing more than 500 visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, some depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sadistic and violent acts.

United States Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Aisha Saleem.

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