United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

TARRANT COUNTY MAN INDICTED ON
FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

Defendant Appears in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth - Trial Date Set

FORT WORTH, Texas — Matthew J. Merideth, 33, of Saginaw, Texas, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton for his arraignment on the charges of receipt and possession of child pornography, as outlined in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Merideth has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2010 on a related charge in a federal criminal complaint. His trial is set for January 10, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.

According to the complaint, in April 2010, the Saginaw Police Department responded to a residence in Saginaw regarding a report of possible sexual assault of a child. Upon arriving at the residence, officers interviewed Merideth and a few days later, executed a state search warrant for his computer. A preliminary forensic exam of the computer revealed that two child pornography videos had been recently downloaded from the Internet using a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The exam also revealed that numerous images of child pornography had been saved on his computer. According to the complaint, Merideth told investigators that he had used a peer-to-peer file sharing program to locate and download child pornography because he was attempting to hunt down individuals preying on children. Merideth, however, told investigators that he wasn’t successful, nor did he report any of this activity to law enforcement.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. A federal criminal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged, and must be made under oath before a magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. However, if convicted Merideth faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than five or more than 20 years in prison on the receipt of child pornography count, and no more than 10 years in prison of the possession of child pornography count, plus up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $500,000 fine.

1 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 U.S. 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 http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/

The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Secret Service North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force and the Saginaw Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis is in charge of the prosecution.

###