Texas man sentenced in Houston to more than 37 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

HOUSTON — A Texas man was sentenced Monday to more than 37 years in federal prison for producing, possessing and distributing child pornography.

This investigation was conducted by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In addition to his 448-month prison sentence, Ryan Glen Colburn, 25, Rosenberg, Texas, was further ordered to pay restitution to his three known victims.

Following his prison term, Colburn must also serve 15 years of supervised release during which time he will be required to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet, including registering as a sex offender.

Colburn first came to the attention of law enforcement after he had sent images of child pornography to another individual who had been arrested for child pornography. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Colburn’s possessed more than 1,100 images and 200 videos of children as young as 12 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct, bondage and acts of violence. Some of the images were of known victims in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database. HSI special agents also executed a search warrant on Colburn’s Dropbox account which contained more than 60 images and 400 videos of child pornography.

At the time of his plea, Colburn admitted to taking sexually explicit photographs and videos of a 2 year old. Colburn further admitted he traded these images with other individuals online.

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 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

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.

HSI is a founding member 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.