United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

MONDAY, JULY 11, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

FORT WORTH MAN ARRESTED AND DETAINED ON
FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGE

FORT WORTH, Texas — A detention/probable cause hearing was held this morning for Louis E. Gray, 40, of Fort Worth, who was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton ordered Gray, who has been in custody since July 6, 2011, when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence, detained pending further court proceedings.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, when special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at Gray’s residence, where he resided alone, they located two working computers and 17 hard drives. Preliminary forensic examination of two of those hard drives has shown they contain approximately 2500 images of child pornography.

A federal 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. If convicted of this offense, however, Gray faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s office has 30 days to present the matter to a grand jury for indictment.

This matter 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.

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