Carthage Man Receives Maximum Federal Prison Sentence for Producing and Possessing Child Porn

Today in Austin, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks sentenced 40–year-old James Randall Farmer of Carthage, TX, to a maximum 50 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for producing and possessing child pornography announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.

According to court records, an FBI agent discovered approximately 18 images of child pornography posted on the internet on April 28, 2013, by an unknown individual.  Upon further investigation, authorities determined that Farmer was, in fact, responsible for making those visual images, as well as several videos of a 4-year-old girl and 6-year-old girl engaging in sexually explicit conduct, available online.  Investigators were also able to confirm that some of the videos depicted a room inside his victims' mother’s residence in Austin where he was residing at the time.

On November 6, 2014, authorities executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s current residence in Carthage.  Evidence gathered included an assortment of computer related equipment and a cell phone belonging to the defendant.  A subsequent search of the defendant’s phone revealed the presence of several videos depicting child pornography produced by the defendant, including the videos referenced above which involved the same girls.  The defendant also possessed other images and videos of child pornography.

On February 11, 2015, Farmer pleaded guilty to producing and possessing child pornography.  Today, Judge Sparks sentenced Farmer to 30 years imprisonment for the production charge and 20 years imprisonment for the possession charge to run consecutive.

The case was investigated by the FBI Austin Child Exploitation Task Force.  Members of that task force include the FBI, Texas Attorney General’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit and the Austin Police Department.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Devlin.