FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
ANGELA DODGE |
February 18, 2011 |
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER |
(713) 567-9388 |
51 YEAR OLD HOUSTON AREA MAN SENTENCE TO PRISON FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
(HOUSTON) - Marvin Oscar Hunick, 51, a Houston resident, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon to 78 months imprisonment for possessing child pornography, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. In custody since his Aug. 27, 2009, arrest, Hunick pleaded guilty in October 2010. In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Harmon read from a statement from the female victim which described how the possession and downloading of her images affected her and continued to haunt and traumatize her.
The charges against Hunick were the result of an investigation conducted by the Houston office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) initiated after agents determined that Hunick had paid for a subscription to a child pornography website. ICE-HSI agents were able to determine that the computer used to join the website was located at Hunick’s residence in Houston.
On Nov. 19, 2009, agents executed a federal search warrant at Hunick’s residence from which several computers were seized. Hunick admitted to agents that he had purchased membership to child pornography sites on about five occasions, had child pornography on his computers and further admitted to looking at child pornography since 2004. Agents found printed images of child pornography and CDs with child pornography at Hunick’s residence. A forensic examination of the seized items resulted in the discovery of 8539 images and 799 videos containing child pornography.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Harmon has ordered Hunick register as a sex offender and serve a 10-year-term of supervised release during which the court has required Hunick to comply with a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit the use of the Internet.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Stabe.
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