United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

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

ARLINGTON MAN ARRESTED AND ORDERED DETAINED
ON FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY INDICTMENT

FORT WORTH, Texas — Thurman J. Kitchen, 40, of Arlington, 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 detained pending trial, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

According to the indictment, in May and June 2010, Kitchen knowing possessed a computer and external storage media containing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

At today’s detention hearing, evidence was presented that the defendant admitted to law enforcement officers that he had collected and possessed child pornography downloaded from the Internet.

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 20 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 the Arlington Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.

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