West Texas man sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for advertising to produce, buy, sell or trade child pornography

MIDLAND, Texas — A west Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison for advertising online to produce, buy, sell or trade child pornography.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Kyle Unterbrink, 47, was also ordered to pay $51,000 restitution to the identified victims of the child pornography he possessed and distributed. He is to be placed on supervised release for 10 years after he completes his prison term.

In February, Unterbrink pleaded guilty to the charge of advertising child pornography. Unterbrink, who has remained in federal custody since his arrest Dec. 11, 2014, has agreed to forfeit his residence to the government to satisfy his court-ordered restitution.

According to court records, over the course of several days in November 2014, HSI special agents identified the defendant’s Internet Protocol address as one which was making nearly 2,000 images of prepubescent child pornography available to anyone in the world who was connected to the same network. On Dec. 11, 2014, agents conducted a search warrant at Unterbrink’s residence and seized various electronic devices. A subsequent search of the seized items revealed the presence of about 6,700 images depicting minors being sexually exploited that were downloaded from the Internet.

The FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety assisted with this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Berry, Western District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

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 12,000 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 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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 and current chair 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.