Ex-Doches jailer enters plea of not guilty on child porn charges

LUFKIN — A former Nacogdoches County jailer pleaded not guilty to federal child pornography charges during his arraignment hearing in a Lufkin courtroom Tuesday morning.

Dressed in a blue and white checkered collared shirt and jeans, Michael Paul Kennedy, 32, calmly stood before a federal judge and waived his right to a detention hearing, leaving him in U.S. Marshal custody until his trial in September.

Two officers from the Attorney General's Cyber Crimes Unit, who were present in court Tuesday, assisted by federal agents arrested Kennedy Monday, charging him with three counts of child porn. A federal grand jury indicted Kennedy last week on transporting, receiving and possessing child porn on his home computer.

Kennedy's name surfaced in June 2006 after the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a series of hearings on Internet pornography and passed the information to the AG's Cyber Crimes Unit, stated a press release from the Texas Attorney General's Office.

The unit traced Kennedy's name through credit card purchases used to access a Web site called neova.net, which apparently is a site that serves as a portal to illegal pornography, according to information from the FBI and other newspaper reports researched by The (Nacogdoches) Daily Sentinel.

In October, Kennedy met with an investigator from the attorney general's office and admitted to purchasing porn but denied purchasing child porn. Kennedy's home computer had more than 1,000 images of child pornography on its hard drive, the release stated.

Some of the images found on the computer showed boys younger than 18 engaging in sexual intercourse with titles such as "nice teen boys 14 & 12", the affidavit stated. A judge, reading from the indictment in court Tuesday, described some images as sadistic in nature.

Kennedy resigned Nov. 17 when the allegations became public. He had worked at the sheriff's office for more than eight years and was the youngest lieutenant in its history.

John Heath Jr., who is representing Kennedy, said he is also a friend and professional acquaintance of his client.

"All of us are shocked and saddened by these charges, but we're not going to abandoned our friend in a time of need," he said Monday.

Monday marks the second child pornography charges in a year filed against a Nacogdoches County jailer.

In April, jailer Brian Roy Sowell, then 39, was arrested on similar charges. His wife turned him in to authorities after she saw him allegedly chatting online with underage girls and asking them to send nude photos, stated an affidavit obtained by The Daily Sentinel. An investigation of his computer revealed a video with a child estimated to be about 11 years old engaging in sexual conduct, the affidavit stated.

Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerss said in April the arrests had sickened and disgusted the department, calling Sowell's arrest yet "another blow" to the department.

If convicted, Kennedy faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for transporting and receiving child porn images. For possession, he could receive up to 10 years along with a fine.