Derek Loyd Ward, Possession of Child Pornography, Texas 2019

A Waco federal judge has handed down a lengthy prison term to a Texas man for possession of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright sentenced 34-year-old Derek Loyd Ward of Whitney, Texas, to 240 months in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release. Ward was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.

The sentence was handed down yesterday after Ward pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on October 8, 2019. A forensics review of the seized materials revealed the presence of approximately 550 videos and 875 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The Child Exploitation Division of the Texas Attorney General's Office investigated the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Gloff prosecuted it on behalf of the government.

Ward's sentence is the latest in a series of cases brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.

Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/federal-judge-waco-hands-down-prison-terms-project-safe-childhood-defendants