United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

BEDFORD MAN ARRESTED ON
FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY INDICTMENT

FORT WORTH, Texas — Brandon S. Gilbert, 32, of Bedford, Texas, who is charged in a federal indictment with possessing child pornography, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton today who ordered him released pending trial, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

According to the indictment, in March 2010, Gilbert possessed a computer containing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At today’s detention hearing, evidence was presented that during an interview with law enforcement officers, the defendant admitted to saving the child pornography to a specific file folder on his computer.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, Kitchen faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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 is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.

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