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

DALLAS — A Dallas resident was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison following his guilty plea to transporting child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

This case was investigated by the Dallas (Texas) Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Rex Sistos, 38, from Dallas was sentenced Dec. 18 by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 240 months in federal prison.

According to documents filed in the case, the Dallas Police Department’s ICAC unit received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in September 2013. NCMEC relayed that Facebook had advised that a Facebook user, later identified as Sistos, had uploaded content that it considered to be child pornography. The investigation led to the execution of a search warrant at Sistos’s home in Dallas Oct. 23, 2013.

During the execution of that warrant, Sistos was home and agreed to speak with an ICAC detective. Sistos admitted he used his cell phone to send an image of child pornography to an adult female located in the Philippines.  A forensic analysis of the cell phone confirmed that Sistos had Facebook accounts associated with the image Sistos transported on two different occasions. Other images and videos of child pornography were also located on his phone.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

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.