Derek Hutter, Child Pornography Solicitation, Texas 2024

DALLAS – A former youth minister in Garland, Texas, has been accused of soliciting explicit photos from a minor and receiving child pornography.

Derek Hutter, 37, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Dallas yesterday on child pornography offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Hutter, who worked as a youth minister at the South Garland Baptist Church, allegedly sent an email to Jane Doe #1, a minor girl, requesting she take sexually explicit photos of herself and text them to him on August 14, 2014.

The indictment further alleges that on September 14, 2014, Hutter received images of child pornography on his email account.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the statutory penalty for the attempted production count is not less than 15 or more than 30 years in federal prison and not less than five or more than 20 years on the receipt count. In addition, each count carries a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) and the Garland Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.

Hutter was arrested and entered a plea of not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney on December 18, 2014. He is currently facing charges of attempted production of child pornography and receipt of child pornography.

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