LUBBOCK, TEXAS – A volunteer firefighter who stored child pornography on his fire department tablet was sentenced today to more than 12 ½ years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.
Justin David Musgraves, 39, pleaded guilty in May to possession of pornography involving a prepubescent minor. He was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who also ordered him to pay $57,000 in restitution to eight victims identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as known victims of child sexual abuse imagery, $17,000 to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act’s reserve fund, and $5,000 to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act’s victim services fund ($79,000 total).
According to plea papers, Mr. Musgraves, Lubbock’s Deputy Director of Emergency Management and a Shallowater Fire Department volunteer, admitted he possessed sexually explicit images of children as young as two years old.
Per court documents, the investigation began after Mr. Musgraves brought his SFD tablet to University Medical Center for a navigation software install. Concerned by the files they spotted, EMS employees immediately reached out to law enforcement.
Officers conducted a forensic examination of the tablet and found more than 5,000 photos and 1,500 videos of child pornography stored on the hard drive. Mr. Musgraves later admitted that he used the tablet to access child pornography while on the clock at the City of Lubbock Operations Center.
At his sentencing hearing, prosecutors noted that Mr. Musgraves meticulously sorted the files into folders and sub folders, mostly organized by victim. One folder was titled “TO UPLOAD.” It remains unclear how the defendant obtained his collection or where, if anywhere, he intended to upload his files.
The Texas Rangers and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office and the complete cooperation of the City of Lubbock and the Shallowater Fire Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Callie Woolam prosecuted the case.