HOUSTON – A 38-year-old man has been ordered to federal prison for 480 months following his convictions of production and possession of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. James Kelly Hilton, of Spring, pleaded guilty Aug. 14, 2017.
Today, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett imposed a 360-month sentence for the production charge as well as another 120 months for possessing child pornography. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively. Following completion of his 40-year prison term, he will be on supervised release for the rest of his life. The court further ordered Hilton to pay $62,500 in restitution to multiple victims.
In April 2017, the mother of a victim discovered an SD card with images of Hilton sexually violating her daughter. She traveled from Spring to Oklahoma where her family resided and reported the discovery to the local authorities. Hilton followed her there, where he was taken into custody.
A forensic examination of the SD card revealed 981 images and five videos of child pornography, including eight images and a video of the identified minor victim. Authorities also seized a cell phone upon his arrest and eventually discovered 444 images of child pornography, seven of which were of the same victim.
He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
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