Federal Grand Jury Indicts Slaton, Texas, Man For Producing Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — Dale Wray Fulford, 77, of Slaton, Texas, has been charged in a federal indictment with one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. 

Fulford is currently in custody on related state charges.  A date has not yet been set for him to make his initial appearance in federal court.

The indictment alleges that between February 2013 and early February 2014, Fulford used, persuaded, induced and enticed a female minor, under age 18, to engage in sexually explicit conduct that he recorded on a digital camera.

A federal indictment is an accusation by a grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty.  If convicted, however, the statutory penalty is not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. 

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.”

The investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, is in charge of the prosecution.