Registered sex offender sentenced to 70 years for sexually exploiting minors

GALVESTON, Texas - A 44-year-old Manvel resident has been ordered to federal prison after his multiple convictions involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM), coercion and enticement of minors and being a registered sex offender while committing the crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Brian Jones pleaded guilty March 12 to two counts each of sexual exploitation of a child, coercion and enticement of a minor and penalties for registered sex offenders as well as one count of possession of CSAM.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown has now sentenced him to 600 months on each of the sexual exploitation charges and the coercion and enticement counts and 240 months for possessing child pornography to run concurrently. He also received 120 months for each of the penalties for registered sex offenders which will be served consecutively to each other and as to the other counts for a total of 840 months.

At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence regarding two victims whom he began talking to when they were just 11 and six years of age. Their guardian prepared a victim impact statement which described how the children were seeing a therapist on a weekly basis for the trauma they endured and how they had to leave the only school and friends they had ever known. The statement also references a comment from the therapist who noted that when she thinks of these children, she just wants to cry.

Jones was further ordered to pay restitution to the victims and will serve the rest of his life on supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to the internet. He will also again be required to register as a sex offender.

“Mr. Jones’ criminal history, which includes a prior sexual offense involving a minor, demonstrates that he is beyond any hope of rehabilitation, and thus only a life sentence or the equivalent, like the one he received today, can adequately safeguard the community from his future predatory behavior,” said Ganjei. “Although we may not ever fully heal the scars that the defendant inflicted on the victims in this case, we can ensure that Mr. Jones can never harm another child again.”

“Another great investigation through our partnership with Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force,” said Chief Johnny Spires of Pearland Police Department (PPD). “Our detective has been investigating these horrible crimes for more than 17 years and is considered an expert in his field. We are very proud of his work here at the PPD and his continued assistance working with other agencies throughout our area. We ask the public to please help protect our children, if you see something say something.”

“With today’s sentencing we have removed a dangerous predator from the community who preyed on children as young as six years old and has shown absolutely no remorse for his heinous actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Houston. “The success of this investigation is a direct result of the unwavering support we continue to receive from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the tireless efforts of our partners at PPD, who worked closely with our special agents to ensure this individual is no longer free to victimize innocent children.”

A total of 24 cybertips from the NCMEC prompted the investigation in 2023. An individual, later identified as Jones, had uploaded over 1,000 CSAM files from April 5 - May 8, 2023. The investigation revealed he was a registered sex offender.

Authorities conducted a residential search warrant and seized his electronic devices. A forensic examination revealed he had over 11,000 images and over 850 videos which depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including anal and vaginal penetration, masturbation, sadistic and masochistic conduct and the lewd and lascivious exhibition of genitals. 

Law enforcement also found images and screenshots of an adult female filming two naked children for Jones during several live chats. In some of the images, Jones’ face or genitals are included as he recorded himself watching them. Some images also included the adult female touching the minor victims.

Jones had initially talked to the adult female who had a connection to the children. He first requested naked pictures of her and then of the minors.   

Text messages between Jones and the minor victims also revealed he had asked them to send him images of their vaginas. The abuse lasted for over three years.   

The investigation also identified the adult female who had also pleaded guilty to two counts of the sexual exploitation of children and is serving a 50-year federal prison sentence.

This was also not the first time Jones had requested children to take pornographic pictures of themselves for him. He was sentenced in 2016 for indecency with a child by exposure in which he had requested his then girlfriend’s minor daughter to send him naked pictures of herself.

PPD, ICE-HSI Galveston and the Houston Metro ICAC task force conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Kimberly Ann Leo and former AUSA Brian Hrach prosecuted the case which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.