Registered sex offender used social media to create, send child porn in 2 states

HOUSTON - A previously convicted and registered sex offender has been sentenced to federal prison for sharing child pornography in two different states.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, Timothy Lee Tyler, 44, pleaded guilty back in September 2022 for distributing and possessing child pornography in 2019 and 2020.

During a court hearing, a judge sentenced Tyler to 360 and 250 months, respectively, as he faces charges from Texas and Wisconsin. In fact, investigators said he is a Milwaukee resident but had friends in Conroe, Texas where he started distributing the child porn from his cell phone on the Kik messenger app in 2020.

Monitoring your children's activity on social media

Multiple parents have filed lawsuits against social media companies, claiming the content on their platforms is dangerous. According to social media expert Karen De Amat, the dangers can also be linked to what they post.

However, while he was in Milwaukee, he admitted to not only having hundreds of child porn files on a flash drive but actually committing several offenses physically on children he knew through friends and loved ones.

Court documents also claim Tyler "encouraged other users on the Kik messaging app to create child pornography for his enjoyment."

"For years, this person preyed upon children," U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said in a press statement. "Online, he encouraged other predators to abuse their own children for his sick gratification. In real life, he terrorized and abused children of people close to him. This sentence will help ensure he isn’t allowed access to children ever again."

Social Media Crime and Public Safety U.S.