HOUSTON – A 42-year-old man residing in Navasota has been detained on charges of production, transportation and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Law enforcement arrested John Allen Chumley on March 15, 2016, upon the filing of a federal criminal complaint. Today, he appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Hanovice Palermo who found probable cause he committed the crime and that he was a danger to the community. He was ordered into custody pending further criminal proceedings.
According to the complaint, Chumley is a long-haul truck driver who transported child pornography across stateliness and even travelled with one of his victims, now a 10-year-old boy. For some time, Chumley had access to this child and allegedly photographed him with Chumley’s cellular telephone in lewd and lascivious poses in Houston and elsewhere. Chumley then distributed these images via the Internet, according to the charges.
At the hearing today, testimony was also presented that alleged Chumley is also suspected of producing child pornography of two prepubescent children in the Houston area, one of whom Chumley also allegedly molested.
If convicted, Chumley faces a minimum of 15 and up to 30 years imprisonment on the production charges, a minimum of five and a maximum of 20 years for transportation of child pornography as well as another 10-year-maximum for possessing the child pornography. All of the charges, upon conviction, also carry a possible $250,000 fine. Upon completion of any prison term imposed, he also faces a minimum of five years and up to life on supervised release and he will be required to register as a sex offender.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and FBI offices in Houston and Springfield, Illinois. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack of the Southern District of Texas is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.