Dallas man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography

DALLAS, Texas — A Dallas man was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 20 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2016 to one count of distributing child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated this case.

Christopher Dale Gann, 30, from Dallas, has been in custody since his arrest in October 2016.

According to plea documents, on Aug. 22, 2016, law enforcement encountered Gann in Dallas. Gann possessed a cellphone as well as three memory cards. A forensic examination of Gann’s phone revealed the presence of a still image of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Gann communicated that same day with an individual on the Kik Instant messaging application and sent the image from his phone.

Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem was in charge of the prosecution.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.