GALVESTON, Texas – A 25-year-old Santa Fe, Texas, resident has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions of receipt and possession of child pornography, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Joshua Allen Kasper pleaded guilty Aug. 10, 2021, U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery said in a news release.
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U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown ordered him to serve a total of 78 months in federal prison, or six-and-a-half years. Kasper was further ordered to pay $13,500 in restitution to the victims and will serve 10 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Kasper will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas, in 2016, law enforcement learned of a Dropbox account that contained what was suspected to be child exploitation material. The investigation revealed that the account, which belonged to Kasper, was comprised of multiple folders that contained hundreds of images and videos meeting the federal definition of child pornography.
Authorities traced the account to an IP address registered to a residential address in Santa Fe. Kasper was living there.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant in August 2018 and seized Kasper’s cell phone, which was found to contain five photos and four images of child pornography. Several months prior to the search, Kasper had received the videos over the Kik messenger application on his phone.
Previously released on bond, Kasper was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Pearland Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherri Zack and Stephanie Bauman prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims.