One man appeared in federal court in Lubbock to plead guilty to a federal child obscenity offense, and three defendants convicted in child pornography cases were sentenced, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana of the Northern District of Texas.

Pleas

Christopher Wayne Howard, 26, of Joshua, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor on October 31, 2014.

According to the Department of Justice, Howard engaged in text message conversations with a 13-year-old girl and used an online application on March 13, 2014, to send an obscene photo. Howard faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings has ordered a pre-sentence investigation report to be carried out before a sentencing date is set.

Sentences

Rocky Joe Williams, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his guilty plea to one count of transportation of child pornography. The Littlefield, Texas, man admitted to using a cellphone and Google Picasa to transport child pornography in July. Williams was remanded into police custody.

Parker James Chapman, 23, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison following his guilty plea to one count of attempted possession of child pornography and aiding and abetting. In July, the Lubbock man admitted to using a cellphone to solicit a person he believed to be a minor and requested nude photos. That person however, was an undercover officer. According to the DOJ, Chapman must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on December 3.

Christopher Anthony Lovato, also of Lubbock, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his guilty plea to one count of possession of child pornography and aiding and abetting in July. The 30-year-old admitted to using his cellphone to possess multiple elicit images he had received from the internet. Lovato was remanded into police custody.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings presided over each case, which were brought to court as part of Project Safe Childhood – a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006.

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