Mother sentenced to more than 10 years for allowing husband to take pornographic photos of her minor daughter

DALLAS — A 38-year-old woman was sentenced Oct. 4 to 121 months in federal prison for permitting the production of child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.

Sharon Anderson, 38, formerly of Ennis, Texas, and her husband, Buddy Anderson, 39, were arrested March 24 by ICE HSI special agents on charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint. Authorities located the Andersons at a homeless shelter in Las Vegas where they had absconded after leaving their apartment in Ennis.

Sharon Lee Anderson pleaded guilty in April. Buddy Anderson entered his guilty plea in May to two federal child pornography/obscenity offenses. He was sentenced last month to 30 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, between May 1999 and Dec. 11, 2003, Sharon Anderson knowingly permitted her husband, Buddy Anderson, to take sexually explicit photographs of her minor daughter. She further admitted that her daughter was between 4 and 8 years old when the photographs were taken, and that her husband later used the photos for his sexual arousal.

The Ennis Police Department assisted with the investigation.

The case was part of ICE's Operation Predator, 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 or completing the HSI tip form at http://www.ice.gov/tips/.