Houston ex-alarm systems salesman pleads guilty to child pornography charges
HOUSTON – A former alarms systems salesman pleaded guilty this week to receiving child pornography.
Douglas Bruce Parsons, 64, was the focus of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Using peer-to-peer computer software, ICE HSI special agents in Corpus Christi, Texas discovered an IP address — registered to Douglas Bruce Parsons of the 8000 block of Silent Cedars Drive in Houston — sharing images and videos of child pornography. The ICE HSI Cyber Crimes Group in Houston initiated an investigation and executed a search warrant at Parsons' residence.
Agents discovered a large volume of child pornography during an on-site preview of the computers in Parson's home. A subsequent forensic analysis of his three computers and an external hard drive resulted in the discovery of 17 digital images and 178 videos. There was a total of more than 58 hours of videos containing child pornography on the hard drives.
As part of the documents in support of the plea, Parsons admitted searching for and downloading child pornography using peer-to-peer computer programs to obtain images and videos of child pornography. He also admitted that his system allowed others to share his child pornography collection.
Parsons is set for sentencing on Feb. 24 before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, at which time he will face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. After he completes any prison term imposed, Parsons also faces a maximum of life on supervised release. The court may also impose a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit Parsons from using the Internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
This case is part of ICE's Operation Predator. Operation Predator is an 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 by calling 1-866-DHS-2ICE.
Updated: