United States Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

HOWARD COUNTY, TEXAS, MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO
FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSE

ABILENE, Texas — Kerry Wayne Feaster, of Coahoma, Texas, appeared in federal court in Abilene, Texas, yesterday and pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Feaster, 36, faces a statutory sentence of not less than five or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and up to a lifetime of supervised release. A sentencing date was not set; Feaster remains in federal custody.

According to documents filed in the case, Feaster, using the texting feature on his phone, initiated contact with an 11 year-old child. The child’s parent saw the texts, assumed the identity of the child, and after determining that Feaster’s intentions were inappropriate, authorized investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to pursue the investigation. Investigators assumed the role of the child and in subsequent communications between Feaster and the person he believed was the child, Feaster discussed sexual matters and sent a sexually explicit photograph to the child.

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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The investigation was conducted by ICE HSI, the Howard County Sheriff’s Office, and the Big Spring Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas.

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