51-Year-Old Texas Man Sentenced in Federal Court in Louisiana After Providing Link to 350+ Files Including Child Pornography to an Undercover Agent

Louisiana – A 51-year-old Texas man has been sentenced in a federal court in Louisiana after providing a link to 350+ files including child pornography to an undercover agent.

Following his conviction for distribution of child pornography, United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick sentenced James Martin, 51, of Beckville, Texas, to 97 months (8 years, 1 month) in federal prison. Martin must finish sex offender treatment and serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence. Martin was also ordered to pay $248,000 in restitution by the Court. Martin will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction.

Martin utilized an instant messaging mobile application and a smartphone in July and August 2022 to deliver child pornography files via the internet to an undercover agent in the Middle District of Louisiana. Martin transmitted videos and photos of juveniles despite knowing they were under the age of 18. A link to a cloud storage program was included in the child pornography files.

Martin provided an undercover agent with a password and instructions to download the videos and images to confirm that the link was “working and sellable when the time [i]s right…” Martin described a scheme to sell child pornography online throughout his conversations with undercover law enforcement. Martin boasted about his abilities to: (1) profitably sell child pornography online; and (2) employ encryption software to avoid discovery by law authorities.

Martin’s web link included 245 videos and 108 photos of child pornography, including toddlers. Martin also had access to at least 130 videos and nearly 7,250 photos of child pornography via his laptop, smartphone, and a central processing unit tower (computer tower), among other devices.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, and the Panola County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide campaign launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to tackle the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Lead by the U.S. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better detect, seize, and punish persons who exploit children through the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. To learn more about Project Safe Childhood, go to http://www.justice.gov/psc.

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