A Houston man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child sexual abuse material. Robert Alexander Shouse, aged 37, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison delivered the sentence after hearing evidence about Shouse's actions involving seven victims. Among these was a minor whom Shouse sexually abused and recorded without their knowledge.
During the court proceedings, one victim spoke about how Shouse had deceived them by pretending to be a supportive figure while secretly exploiting them. The court ordered Shouse to pay $153,500 in restitution and serve 10 years on supervised release following his prison term.
“Robert Shouse is the embodiment of evil,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, emphasizing the severity of his crimes against children.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri highlighted that Shouse controlled a dark web site facilitating the trafficking of thousands of explicit images and videos of minors.
FBI Special Agent Douglas Williams remarked on the lasting trauma inflicted on victims due to the online distribution of such material: “Children are re-victimized as long as documentation of their sexual abuse is on the internet.”
Shouse was identified in 2018 as an administrator for a website on the dark web that facilitated child exploitation while keeping users anonymous. Authorities shut down this site in 2019 after discovering over 117,000 images and more than 1,100 videos depicting child sexual abuse on devices seized from Shouse’s residence.
The investigation revealed that Shouse abused one victim over six years, beginning when they were nine years old, creating hundreds of abusive images and videos during this period.
The FBI-Texas City led the investigation with support from local law enforcement agencies and international partners like the Dutch National Police and United Kingdom National Crime Agency.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo and Trial Attorney James E. Burke IV prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a DOJ initiative targeting child sexual exploitation since 2006.
For more information about PSC or internet safety education resources, visit DOJ’s PSC page online.