Indicted Jan. 11, 2012, Atchison agreed in court today to the facts as described by the prosecutor regarding the commission of his offense. On Dec. 1, 2011, an employee of a computer repair business contacted law enforcement regarding a computer brought in for repair which was suspected to contain child pornography. The computer was ultimately turned over to the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Computer forensics experts examined the computer and found it to contain more than 3500 images and 200 videos of suspected child pornography.
The investigation was joined by the FBI who then investigated the background and movements of Atchison. A controlled delivery of the computer was organized and Atchison re-took possession of the computer on Dec. 15, 2011, after which he was immediately arrested. He admitted to owning the computer and using it to acquire child pornography.
Senior United States District Judge John D. Rainey, who accepted the guilty plea today, has set sentencing for May 21, 2012, at which time Atchison will face a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. He has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending that sentencing hearing.
The case was jointly investigated by the Corpus Christi Police Department ICAC and the FBI.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lance Duke, 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, 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.
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