29 year old Daniel Byrd was arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography.
The federal charge is the result of law enforcement discovering that Byrd was in control of a folder containing child porn that was shared in an online chat group.
Prosecutors accuse Byrd of using the Kik and Telegram apps to view and download child porn and would download content to his MEGA account.
He is also charged with posting links from his MEGA account into Kik groups…which allowed others to access folders containing the child porn.
The investigation was conducted by a FBI agent based in Bryan with the assistance of College Station police.
If convicted, Byrd faces up to ten years for possession and up to 20 years for distributing child porn.
The day of Byrd’s arrest, he was placed on paid administrative leave by Navasota ISD.
Byrd spent one night in the Brazos County jail before he was returned to FBI custody.
News release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston:
A 29-year-old College Station resident has been arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Daniel Byrd is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison at 2 p.m. today (March 24, 2023). Authorities took him into custody yesterday (March 23, 2023).
Byrd is employed as a teacher at Navasota High School.
The criminal complaint, filed today, alleges Byrd came to the attention of law enforcement upon discovery of a folder containing child pornography shared in a Kik chat group. Byrd was allegedly in control of that folder.
According to the complaint, Byrd used Kik and Telegram to view and download child pornography. He allegedly joined groups dedicated to sharing child pornography and would download content to his MEGA account. Byrd then posted links from his MEGA account into Kik groups, thereby allowing others to access folders containing child pornography, according to the charges.
If convicted, Byrd faces up to 20 years for distribution of child pornography as well a maximum of 10 years for possessing it.
The FBI – Bryan resident agency conducted the investigation with the assistance of College Station Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims.