Port Aransas Man Gets Federal Time for Possession of Child Pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—Scott Randall Atchison, 50, of Port Aransas, Texas, has landed in federal prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

Indicted in January 2012, Atchison pleaded guilty the following month. Today, Senior United States District Judge John D. Rainey sentenced him to 78 months in prison to be followed by a 10-year-term of supervised release, during which special conditions related to participation in sex offender treatment and restrictions regarding employment, residency, and access to children will be imposed. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for life. At sentencing today, Judge Rainey stated that the sentence was necessary to reflect the seriousness of the offense, protect the public, and deter others from engaging in similar criminal conduct.

The investigation began on December 1, 2011 when an employee of a computer repair business contacted law enforcement regarding a computer brought in for repair that was suspected to contain child pornography. The computer was ultimately turned over to the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). Computer forensics experts examined the computer and found it to contain more than 3500 images and 200 videos of suspected child pornography.

The investigation was joined by the FBI who then investigated the background and movements of Atchison. A controlled delivery of the computer was organized and Atchison re-took possession of the computer on December 15, 2011, after which he was immediately arrested. He admitted to owning the computer and using it to acquire child pornography.

He has been in custody since his arrest, where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The case was jointly investigated by the Corpus Christi Police Department ICAC and the FBI.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lance Duke, 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.”