Inmate sentenced for distributing child pornography from Beaumont federal prison

BEAUMONT, Texas - A federal inmate has been sentenced to an additional 21 years in federal prison for committing child exploitation violations while incarcerated in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.

Jonathan Lee Edwards, 42, of Houston, pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on October 15, 2024. Edwards was ordered to begin serving his sentence following the completion of his current federal sentence of 23 years.

According to information presented in court, in December 2021, federal agents received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding images of possible child pornography being uploaded to an online email account. Further investigation linked the accounts to Edwards, who was currently serving a 23-year sentence in the Bureau of Prisons' Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont for possession of child pornography. During the investigation, Edwards used a cellular phone to send five videos containing child pornography to a person he believed to be a minor. The cellular phone was seized by correctional officers. Based on the evidence, Edwards is responsible for possessing 477 images of child pornography while in federal custody.

This case is 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 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Houston; Palm Beach, Florida; and Beaumont. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Grove.

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