Federal grand jury indicts north Texas man on child pornography charges

DALLAS - A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment on Thursday charging a former Ennis, Texas, resident with various child pornography/obscenity offenses. The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Ennis Police Department.

Buddy Anderson, 39, and his wife, Sharon Lee Anderson, 38, were arrested March 24 by ICE HSI agents on related charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint. Law enforcement located the Andersons at a homeless shelter in Las Vegas, Nev., where they had absconded after leaving their apartment in Ennis. Both remain in federal custody.

Sharon Anderson pleaded guilty this week to a one-count felony Information which charged her with permitting the production of child pornography. She admitted that she permitted Buddy Anderson to take sexually explicit photographs of her minor daughter, who was between 4 and 8 years old when the photos were taken. She faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than 15 or more than 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

According to documents filed in this case, persons hired to clean an abandoned apartment on North Clay Street in Ennis discovered child pornography photographs on the apartment's porch that were discarded as garbage. Some of those photographs depicted a girl about 5 years old, who was later identified as Sharon Anderson's daughter, posing in a sexually explicit manner.

Count one of the indictment alleges that on a date between May 1999 and Dec. 11, 2003, Buddy Anderson took sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe, who was then 4 to 8 years old. Count two of the indictment further alleges that in July 2010, Buddy Anderson created a digital slide show of photographs focusing on the genitals of nude children. Count three of the indictment alleges that in February 2011, Buddy Anderson possessed five sexually explicit images of minors.

Count one, producing child pornography, carries a statutory sentence of not less than 15 or more than 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.

Count two, producing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, carries a statutory sentence of not less than five years or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.

Count three, possession of child pornography, carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. A trial date has not yet been set.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille Sparks and Lisa J. Miller, Northern District of Texas, are in charge of the prosecution.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

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.