DALLAS (CN) - A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former congressional staffer from Texas to five years in federal prison for receiving child pornography on his congressional email account.
James Maines Jr., 54, of Mesquite, admitted in December that he tried to email himself child pornography in 2012. He was charged with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography.
At least seven sexually explicit images of minor female children were found on his computer, according to the six-page indictment.
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade also ordered Maines to serve five years of supervised release.
"Maines attempted to forward five child pornography images from his personal email account to his U.S. House of Representatives email account," prosecutors said in a statement. "Maines admitted that he had received these and other child sexual pornography images via the Internet. Forensic analysis of Maines' computer revealed that Maines had downloaded child pornography and other child exploitation images via the Internet as early as 2004, according to the plea."
Maines worked for Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, until December 2014.
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