Dallas County School Teacher Charged with Federal Child Pornography Offense Sentenced to 121 Months in Federal Prison

FORT WORTH, Texas — Mark Stutheit, 59, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 121 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2016 to one count of receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Stutheit who was a teacher at Reinhardt Elementary School in Dallas at the time of the offense has been in custody since his arrest in June 2016.

According to documents filed in the case, in June 2016, an undercover officer with the Queensland Police Service (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) and Stutheit exchanged emails about the sexual exploitation of children.

On June 23, 2016, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at Stutheit’s residence in Saginaw, Texas. A forensic evaluation of evidence seized revealed numerous files containing child pornography on Stutheit’s computer and mobile devices.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s 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 sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

ICE HSI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted.

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