A Euless man accused of participating in an international "naturist" group that produced and distributed child pornography worldwide has been indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury on charges of ongoing sexual abuse of a child.
Timothy Whitington, 45, was indicted Nov. 30 on accusations that he repeatedly assaulted an 11-year-old Texas boy and distributed images of the assault on the Internet.He was arrested as part of an international investigation that involved law enforcement authorities from Australia to Great Britain, including Interpol.Whitington has already been convicted on a federal charge of producing child pornography and was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison. If convicted on the state charge, he would face 25 years to life in prison without parole, according to Tarrant County prosecutor Alana Minton, chief of the crimes against children division.International ringThe case began in Australia when police intercepted an e-mail containing child pornography that had been sent to a known sex offender, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. district court by Patrick McGaha, a special agent with the Homeland Security Department.The Australian sex offender was linked to a British couple who operated a now-defunct "naturist" website that was open only to members considered "open naturists," a term they used to describe people who sexually abused children. Whitington was linked to the couple through online chats that discussed distribution of child pornography and sexual abuse of children, according to the federal complaint.Interpol provided details in December 2010 to U.S. authorities, who promptly obtained a search warrant for Whitington's Euless apartment."You are here for the bad stuff," Whitington told investigators when they arrived to conduct the search Dec. 27, according to the federal complaint.Reaching a dealWhitington told federal authorities that he streamed the abuse of the Texas boy live over the Internet using a webcam at the direction of a Michigan man, who took a snapshot of the image and sent it back to him.Whitington also saved the images, which were recovered from a thumb drive in his apartment, according to the criminal complaint. The men apparently exchanged images. Whitington admitted that he viewed live streaming via webcam of two Michigan boys, ages 8 and 9, engaged in sexual activities. He told investigators that he would take snapshot images of the boys and send them back to the man in the Detroit area, according to documents filed in federal court in Michigan.Whitington's conviction in federal court was based on child pornography involving the Michigan boys. Whitington reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry Means in Fort Worth. He had faced up to 30 years in federal prison.The Michigan man, Marcus Wilson, was arrested in December 2010 and also reached a plea deal. He was sentenced in October to 30 years in federal prison.The state case against Whitington stems from alleged abuse of the Texas boy, which the Tarrant County indictment says went on for more than 30 days. Federal documents indicate that a number of individuals were also arrested in Australia and England.Dianna Hunt, 817-390-7084Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
