James T. Jacks
Acting United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

FORMER GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS, PRIEST PLEADS GUILTY TO
FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGE

DALLAS — Matthew Bagert, 40, a former priest in Grand Prairie, Texas, pled guilty this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney to one count of possession of child pornography, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Bagert, now a resident of Richardson, Texas, remains on bond. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is set for July 20, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.

According to documents filed in court, on February 1, 2005, Grand Prairie Police executed a search warrant at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church after receiving information that an associate priest saw, then Father Matthew Bagert, viewing an image of a young, nude boy on the rectory computer. Bagert admitted that he was responsible for the child pornography on the rectory computer and that he had used the Internet to find the images.

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

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Grand Prairie Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem.

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