Arlington, Texas, man sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison on federal child pornography conviction

FORT WORTH, Texas - A man from Arlington, Texas, who pleaded guilty in August to a one-count indictment charging receipt of child pornography, was sentenced on Monday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison. The sentenced was announced by U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The case was investigated by the Arlington Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In addition, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means ordered that David L. Goluba, 44, serve 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison.

Goluba was arrested in St. Paul, Minn., a few days after he was indicted in the Northern District of Texas. According to an order entered following his detention hearing on April 21, a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota found that Goluba had abruptly left his employment, made arrangements to liquidate his property and left Texas after learning that he was under investigation in this case. The Court also found that Goluba had engaged in other conduct consistent with an intent to avoid capture as he stopped using his cell phone, obtained a prepaid phone, and changed his online identity several times between leaving his residence in Texas and his arrest in Minnesota. The Court also found that Goluba had discussed with another how to obtain the birth certificate of a deceased person and had stated in an on-line chat that he wanted to get new, false identification.

According to plea documents filed in the case, on March 1, when Arlington police detectives interviewed Goluba regarding a lead they had received, he admitted that he had child pornography on his computer. A search warrant was executed to obtain the computer and related storage media and a forensic examination confirmed that there were more than 10 video clips of child pornography on his computer. Goluba admitted that he knowingly received the numerous images and videos of child pornography of girls ranging as young as 10-years-old engaged in posing and in sexual acts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

This investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com/.