Hardin County Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Violations

BEAUMONT, TX—A 29-year-old Lumberton, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Christopher Lee Alsup pleaded guilty on June 27, 2011, to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison on Oct. 26, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to information presented in court, on Sep. 24, 2009, a federal search warrant was executed at Alsup’s residence and law enforcement officers seized computer hardware and software. A forensic examination of the seized items was conducted and found to contain over 60 video files and over 846 images of child pornography. Some of the images depicted prepubescent minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and some of the images are considered sadistic or masochistic. Alsup was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 3, 2010, and charged with child pornography violations.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall L. Fluke.