United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

ARLINGTON MAN ADMITS POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

FORT WORTH, Texas — Thurman J. Kitchen, 40, of Arlington, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge John McBryde to an indictment charging one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Kitchen, who has been in custody since his arrest in September 2010, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for February 11, 2011.

According to documents filed in the case, in June 2010, officers with the Arlington Police Department visited the Kitchen residence based on a lead from an individual who had purchased a computer from Kitchen. Images of child pornography were found on that computer. Agents examined Kitchen’s computer and related storage media and discovered child pornography that Kitchen admitted downloading from the Internet. The factual resume notes that Kitchen was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 1999 for possession of child pornography.

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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