Fort Worth man sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas — A local man was sentenced Friday to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison following his October guilty plea to one count of producing child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Fort Worth Police Department.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, in May 2010, Dwight L. Looney, 62, from Fort Worth, knowingly used, persuaded and enticed "Jane Doe" to engage in sexually explicit conduct; Looney used a digital camera to take a still image of that conduct. Jane Doe was younger than 16 years old at the time.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem, 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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.