What Are the Charges for Possessing or Distributing Child Pornography in Texas? 

 Posted on July 28, 2022 in Criminal Defense

The State of Texas takes crimes against children very seriously. Prosecutors tend to aggressively prosecute those accused of possessing, creating, selling, or distributing media content depicting children under 18 in a sexual manner. The crime of possessing child pornography is serious enough that, in addition to whatever criminal punishments a convicted perpetrator faces, it merits a lifetime registry on the Texas self-offender list, leading to permanent social, professional, and residential consequences. 

Life for persons convicted of Texas child pornography laws is not easy. If you have been charged with violating child pornography laws, it is essential to retain the services of a criminal defense attorney who can help you construct a strong defense. 

How Can the Police Find Evidence of Child Pornography? 

Law enforcement has many tools at their disposal to discover child pornography. Deleting files, emails, or texts is not a fail-safe way of guaranteeing you will not get caught. Once law enforcement has probable cause that an individual is in possession of child pornography, they may get a search warrant that allows them to: 

• Physically search someone’s home, workplace, vehicle, phone, and computer 

• Take someone’s electronic devices to a professional who can search them for deleted content 

• Search peer-to-peer file sharing networks 

• Access someone’s internet search history, cache, cookies, and passwords

• Conduct online police stings 

• Subpoena someone’s internet service provider for information 

What Are the Consequences For Possessing Child Pornography in Texas?

No matter how law enforcement discovers someone is in possession of child pornography, the alleged perpetrator can be charged with a third-degree felony. Like prosecutors, juries are not sympathetic to those accused of child pornography charges and tend to support efforts for a prosecutor to punish a perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law. 

Punishments for a third-degree felony possession of child pornography include prison time of two to 10 years, fines up to $10,000, and a requirement to register as a national sex offender for the rest of your life. If you have more than six images, videos, or other media content depicting a child in a sexual way, you can be charged with intent to promote whether or not you actually did distribute child pornography to anyone else. A conviction for promoting child pornography is punishable by 20 years in prison for the first offense and up to 99 years in prison for a second offense. A conviction for creating child pornography is punishable by 99 years in prison for a first offense. 

Call a Midland, TX Child Pornography Defense Attorney

No matter the charges you face, the Midland County crimes against children defense attorneys at Morales Law Office, Attorneys at Law, PLLC. believe you deserve fair representation. We have a proven history of success as assertive but honest attorneys who provide excellent criminal defense regardless of the circumstances. Call us today at 512-474-2222 to schedule a free, confidential consultation. 

Source: 

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.43.htm