WACO, Texas — Two area men have been sentenced to lengthy terms in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney John F. Bash announced Wednesday.
34-year-old Derek Loyd Ward, of Whitney, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised released. U.S. District Judge Alan Albright also order Ward to pay $10,000 in restitution.
Ward pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on Oct. 8, 2019 after authorities executed a search warrant at Ward's residence and seized his person computer and related media only to find 550 videos and 875 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, a release from the U.S. Attorney's office Western District of Texas said.
The other man sentenced was 28-year-old Tyler Christopher Benson, of Killeen. Benson was sentenced to nine years and two months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Benson pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on Oct. 15, 2019. Authorities executed a search warrant at Benson's residence on Oct. 26, 2017 and seized his laptop and phone. A forensics review of both items revealed 775 videos and 360 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to the release.
"Those who possess child pornography sustain the market for the abuse of children," U.S. Attorney Bush said. "Today's sentence was richly deserved."
The Child Exploitation Division of the Texas Attorney General's Office investigated the cases and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Gloff prosecuted the cases on behalf of the government.
The two cases were part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
