Man Sentenced for Child Pornography and Obstruction of Justice

United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announces that James
Derrick Robertson, age 53, of Demopolis, Alabama was sentenced today after earlier pleading guilty to receiving child pornography and obstruction of justice. 

According to information presented at the sentencing hearing, Robertson taught students at Demopolis High School to operate the sound system at the school.   On February 18, 2017, the principal of the high school contacted the Demopolis Police Department regarding a complaint about Robertson.  Pursuant to this investigation, a search warrant was executed at Robertson’s home and his computers were seized. 

In court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Robertson admitted that an examination of his hard drive revealed that he had possessed four videos of underage girls performing fellatio on adult males.  Two of the girls appeared unconconscious.  A forensic search of his telephone revealed two images of toddlers who were being raped.

Robertson also admitted that he became aware of the investigation on February 19, 2017, and that he searched the internet for methods to destroy data to prevent recovery by forensic tools and then downloaded a wiping program and deleted searches for child pornography, images of child pornography and incriminating chats with minors. 


At sentencing, the United States argued that the defendant had downloaded images that with titles suggesting they were of violent acts against young girls including rape.   Judge Callie V. S. Granade found that Robertson was a danger to the community and ordered that he be imprisoned for 235 months, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.    Robertson will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Demopolis Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.