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Press Release

Island Man Heads to Prison on Child Pornography Charge

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 70-year-old resident of South Padre Island has been sentenced to federal prison for possession of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Howard William Halverson pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2016.

 

Today, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera considered Halverson’s age and handed him a sentence of 60 months in federal prison. The court further ordered Halverson to pay $50,317.00 in restitution to the known victims discovered in his child pornography collection. Halverson will spend the rest of his life on supervised release after serving his sentence, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

 

The investigation into Halverson began as authorities were looking into persons utilizing peer-to-peer software to exchange and view child pornography. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Halverson’s condominium on July 6, 2016, which led to the discovery of 1488 images and five videos containing child pornography, 545 of which were of known victims.

 

Halverson has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation.

 

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Corley, 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

Updated June 16, 2017

Topic
Project Safe Childhood