Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Texas
Johnny Sutton,
United States Attorney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2007

Shana Jones
Special Assistant Daryl Fields
Public Information Officer
(210) 384-7452

AUSTIN ATTORNEY SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that Douglas Michael Stum, age 43, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lee Yeakel in federal court to 120 months in federal prison as a result of his conviction for possessing child pornography. Stum was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release after completing his imprisonment and will also be required to register as a sex offender. The defendant, who was free on conditions of bond, was ordered by the Court to be taken into immediate custody to begin service of his sentence.

“From the outside, Mr. Stum appeared to be a successful Austin attorney but behind closed doors he was downloading and viewing images of children being abused in the most horrific ways,” stated U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton.

On April 25, 2007, Stum entered a guilty plea to Possession of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. At his guilty plea hearing, he admitted that in late 2004, using the Yahoo screen name “geoffmchaney,” he had communicated with James Lindgren, an individual in Jamestown, New York, who was later convicted in federal court of producing child pornography and sentenced to federal prison. In Internet chat sessions recovered from Lindgren’s computer, “geoffmchaney” indicated, among other things, that he possessed child pornography and was sexually aroused by and interested in trading child pornography.

In June 2006, FBI agents in Austin obtained a search warrant for Stum’s residence in Austin. Agents seized three computers from Stum’s residence which, upon forensic analysis, were found to contain over one thousand visual depictions of child pornography in digital format, including both still images and videos, which depicted children ranging in age from young infants and toddlers to early teens being sexually abused. As set forth in the Indictment, some of the still images and videos depicted the sexual exploitation of children involving violence, bondage, sadomasochistic activities, and bestiality. As part of his guilty plea, Stum admitted he knowingly possessed these images and videos.

This Project Safe Childhood case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Devlin.

Project Safe Childhood (PSC) aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. The threat of sexual predators soliciting children for physical sexual contact is well-known and serious; the danger of the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography is equally dramatic and disturbing. The response to these growing problems must be coordinated, comprehensive, and robust. It must aim to investigate and prosecute vigorously, and protect and assist victimized children. At the same time, it must recognize the need for a broad, community-based effort to protect our children and to guarantee to future generations the opportunities of the American dream.

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