United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER FROM MINERAL WELLS, TEXAS,
IS SENTENCED TO 35 YEARS IN PRISON
ON FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CONVICTION

FORT WORTH, Texas — Anthony R. Sherley, 41, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 420 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in February to one count of distributing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. In addition, Judge McBryde ordered that Sherley, who has been in federal custody since his arrest last December, serve a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison.

According to documents filed in the case, Sherley used AOL to discuss and exchange images of child pornography of children under the age of six. The investigation also revealed that Sherley was a convicted sex offender who had served 10 years in prison for an indecency with a child conviction in 1998. When a federal search warrant was executed at his residence in Mineral Wells last December, agents with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) located a collection of printed child pornography images and printed sex stories involving sex acts with prepubescent females.

The 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov

ICE-HSI and the Dallas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Lewis prosecuted.

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