Latest Legal News from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United States

JUNE 28, 2007

DALLAS COUPLE CHARGED IN FEDERAL CRIMINAL COMPLAINT WITH PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

DALLAS — Douglas James Meyers and Amanda Renee Jenson appeared in federal court in Dallas this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan on charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint filed yesterday, charging each with production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper, of the Northern District of Texas. According to the affidavit filed with the complaint, Meyers, 45, and Jenson, 20, have been involved in a relationship for three years and reside in Dallas County. Both Meyers and Jenson are in custody following their arrest and today Magistrate Judge Kaplan set a probable cause/detention hearing for Friday, June 29, 2007.

According to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, an officer with the Dallas Police Department’s Child Abuse Unit informed an agent with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, that she had received information that a 13-year-old female had been sexually assaulted by Douglas James Meyers and Amanda Renee Jenson.

The minor victim disclosed during interviews that between March 1 and April 2, 2007, she had sexual contact with Jenson and with Jenson’s boyfriend, Meyers, during a weekend visit to their residence. The victim stated that Meyers had committed acts of aggravated sexual assault with her and that Meyers also photographed Jenson engaging in aggravated sexual assault with her. The Dallas Police Department officer advised the U.S. Secret Service that she had interviewed another witness who had seen photographs on a computer located in the Meyers/Jenson residence that showed both Meyers and Jenson separately engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the minor.

On May 4, 2007, members of the Dallas Police Department Child Abuse Unit executed a search warrant at the Meyers/Jenson residence on Royal Lane in Dallas. They located CPUs, laptop computers, numerous hard drives, several hundred pieces of removable media, and four digital cameras. A preliminary review of the evidence by Dallas Police Department officers revealed images of child erotica unrelated to the victim and child pornography images involving the 13-year-old female victim.