West Texas man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography

ABILENE, Texas — A West Texas man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Abilene Police Department.

Jonathan Andrew Hydro, 59, of Abilene, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to pay $5,000 in restitution.  He has been in custody since his arrest in February 2017.  Hydro pleaded guilty in April 2017 to one count of receiving visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

According to documents filed in the case, on June 17, 2016, Hydro knowingly received, via the internet, seven images which depict minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  At the time Hydro received the images he knew that at least one of the performers in each image was a minor and he knew that the visual depiction was of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, Northern District of Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.

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.

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 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.