East Texas man sentenced to 51 months for possessing child pornography

BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas man was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Eastern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

James Damian Newsom, 52, of Groves, Texas, pleaded guilty on July 12, 2011, to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison Jan. 20 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to court documents, ICE HSI initiated an investigation on May 28, 2010. The investigation led to executing a search warrant at Newsom's home. During the search, a personal computer was seized. A forensic examination of the computer revealed it contained over 350,000 deleted images of child pornography.

This investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.