A Tulsa resident, Devin James Woodis, 34, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. U.S. District Judge John D. Russell handed down the sentence, which also includes lifetime supervised release and a requirement that Woodis register as a sex offender upon his release. Additionally, Woodis was ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution to victims.
According to U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson, the case began when the Tulsa Police Department received a CyberTip from the messaging app Kik indicating that Woodis was sharing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence and found evidence of sexually explicit conversations with multiple individuals, including someone he believed to be a 14-year-old minor.
Officers discovered that Woodis used several messaging platforms such as Kik, TeleGuard, and Sessions to distribute illegal content. Devices seized during the investigation contained 258 photos and 242 videos depicting children, toddlers, and infants being sexually abused.
The materials were submitted to the National Child Victim Identification System managed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorities identified sixty children from the images; some of these victims provided impact statements during court proceedings. The restitution paid by Woodis will be directed to those identified victims.
Woodis will remain in custody until he is transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Robert prosecuted the case following an investigation by the Tulsa Police Department.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims,” according to information released by authorities. More details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at Justice.gov/PSC.
