BEAUMONT, Texas — A 34-year-old Bridge City man is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after being convicted child pornography charges.
A federal jury, on Tuesday, found Dereck Wayne Winstead, 34, of Bridge City, guilty of possession of child pornography after a trial before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
A sentencing hearing will be set for Winstead after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office the release said.
In 2020 federal agents got two “cyber tips” from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a person from Orange County had been accessing and was in possession of child pornography images according to trial testimony the release said.
Investigators found that the accounts accessing the images belonged to Winstead according to the release.
Officers conducted a “consensual search” of Winstead’s home in March 2022 and found four “electronic devices,” including a custom-built gaming computer.
A forensic search of the gaming computer showed more than 300 child pornography images including images of children under 12 the release said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Grove and Jonathan Lee prosecuted the case which was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Beaumont Resident Agency.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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