North Texas man admits producing child pornography

FORT WORTH, Texas - A man from Euless, Texas, pleaded guilty on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton to one count of producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Euless Police Department conducted the investigation.

Timothy E. Whitington, 44, who has been in custody since his arrest in late December 2010, faces a statutory sentence of not less than 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 29 before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.

According to documents filed in the case, Whitington admitted that he used a webcam and the Internet to allow visual depictions of two boys (sons of a Michigan man), who were engaged in sexually explicit conduct, to be transmitted live on the Internet.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis is 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.