TEXARKANA, Texas - A Texarkana man was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison Friday for distributing child pornography.
Authorities believe Troy Dewayne "T.J." Daniels Jr., 32, intended to sexually abuse a young girl living in his home before he was caught. Daniels appeared for sentencing Friday afternoon with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
Schroeder sentenced Daniels to 210 months -or 17-and-a-half years -in federal prison. There is no parole from a federal prison sentence and offenders may accumulate good time at a maximum of 54 days per year.
Upon release from federal prison, Daniels must register as a sex offender and be supervised by federal officials for life.
Daniels was arrested in November 2019 after sharing child pornography with an undercover investigator he believed was a fellow pedophile. Daniels came to the attention of law enforcement in October 2019 after he began chatting online with an undercover officer in California using the application Whisper. According to a criminal complaint, Daniels spoke of wanting to engage in sexual activity with his wife's 6-year-old daughter and sent the agent child pornography using the Wickr application.
Daniels told the undercover officer that he wanted to "go all the way" with the child and asked the officer if he could "play" online with the agent's fictional teen daughter.
The 6-year-old told her grandmother that Daniels has "kissed her like in the movies."
More than 600 images of children being sexually exploited were discovered on electronic media in Daniels' possession during a Nov. 25, 2019, search of his Texarkana, Texas, home on Trinity Street.
Daniels was represented by Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok prosecuted the case.