United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

PRODUCER OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY SENTENCED TO
NEARLY 55 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

LUBBOCK, Texas - Paul Edward Shook, Jr., an Abilene, Texas, man who pled guilty in March to two counts of production of child pornography, was sentenced to 654 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper. At Friday’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings also ordered that Shook, 45, participate in sex offender treatment services as directed by the U.S. Probation Officer, serve a lifetime of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “I applaud Judge Cummings’ stiff sentence in this case. It sends a loud and clear message to these dangerous predators that they will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I also want to thank the investigating agencies, who, working together as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, were able to remove this defendant from the streets and rescue a victim. This is clearly another Project Safe Childhood success story.”

Shook was arrested in late December 2006 on charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint and was then indicted in January 2007 and charged with two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of transportation of child pornography. Shook has been in custody since his arrest.

In documents filed in Court, Shook admitted that during 2006, while residing in Abilene, Texas, he maintained an Internet account which he used to chat with persons around the U.S. and other countries. During these chat sessions, Shook would use a Web cam connected to his computer to transmit images of himself to the people with whom he was chatting, and he would generally receive images on his computer transmitted to him by those people.

Shook admitted he began chatting with individuals who were interested in engaging in sexual acts with children. Shook then engaged in sexually explicit conduct with “Jane Doe,” a prepubescent child, on seven or eight occasions in 2006. In April and December of 2006, Shook caused the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him so that he could transmit a visual depiction of the activity on the Internet. During the December offense, Shook transmitted the sexual abuse to a person in another state who was sexually abusing a five-year-old female child and using a Web cam to transmit a depiction of that criminal activity to Shook.

1 This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.”

U.S. Attorney commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Abilene, Texas, Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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