Alvin man imprisoned after downloading nearly 700 pornographic images

GALVESTON, TX -- A 40-year-old Alvin man has been sent to federal prison following his conviction of receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Timothy Alan Fortenberry pleaded guilty Jan. 19.

Today, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown ordered him to serve 180 months in prison. The sentence will be immediately followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, during which time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Fortenberry was a registered sex offender serving a term of supervised release for prior federal convictions for receipt and possession of child pornography. He will again have to register as a sex offender.

The investigation began in June 2021, when law enforcement discovered an individual utilizing a computer sharing files of child pornography on BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing system. Authorities downloaded a torrent file which contained 694 images from Fortenberry’s computer and found images of minor females engaged sexually explicit conduct.

On July 12, 2021, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence where Fortenberry was living. He admitted that while on supervised release, he purchased a tablet which was probation was not monitoring. He used it to download and view child pornography.

He further admitted that after doing so, he would factory reset the tablet in order to erase all of the child pornography.

Fortenberry will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Pearland Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of 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. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.