United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

DALLAS COUNTY MAN ADMITS PRODUCING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

DALLAS — Larry Pike, 40, of Balch Springs, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle to one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Pike has been in federal custody since his arrest in late August 2010 on related charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint. According to the terms of the plea agreement, if the Court accepts the plea, it is agreed that the appropriate term of imprisonment in this case should be 240 months (20 years) in prison. In addition, Pike could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 and serve up to a lifetime of supervised release. He will have to forfeit to the government the extensive inventory of computers and computer-related equipment that was seized during the investigation. Sentencing is set for March 10, 2011, before Judge Boyle.

According to documents filed in the case, while conducting an investigation into the use of file-sharing software to distribute child pornography, an undercover police officer received child pornography from Pike’s computer using LimeWire file-sharing software. On June 3, 2010, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a federal search warrant at Pike’s home in Balch Springs that he shared with his mother and stepfather. Several computers and other media were seized from Pike’s bedroom. A preliminary forensic exam shows that to date, more than 5000 videos of child pornography have been found on the equipment, with a large number involving prepubescent children and sadistic/masochistic images.

In addition, the forensic exam of the computer revealed more than 80 photographs of “Jane Doe,” a 17-year-old girl who had been enticed by Pike to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him so that he could photograph it. Pike provided the girl alcohol before he took the photos in an effort to impair her ability to appraise or control her conduct.

In the defendant’s detention order, issued August 30, 2010, the Court noted testimony at Pike’s detention hearing that Pike had contacted two women after the execution of the search warrant at his residence and told one of them if she was contacted by police to say that she was 18 years old, and he told the other woman that she “did not need to be talking to anyone,” that it was “not lying” if she refused to talk, and that she needed “to stop talking about anything to anyone involving this.” One of the women told agents that, while she was still a minor, she saw images of child pornography on Pike’s computer and recognized some of the victims to be students from Pike’s martial arts class.

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

If anyone has any information regarding other potential victims of sexual abuse by Larry Pike, please contact ICE at 866-347-2423.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.

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