San Angelo Man Sent to Prison for Pictures Stored on His Computer’s Hard Drive

LUBBOCK, TX —Kelly Turner, 35, of San Angelo, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in March 2017 to one count of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, on July 6, 2016, Turner distributed two images depicting a minor female, under the age of eighteen years, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition to the two images, Turner received and possessed hundreds of images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which he intentionally sought out and found on the Internet.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s 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 sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy was in charge of the prosecutions.