Harris County Man Charged With Three Counts of Child Pornography After NCMEC Tip

Terry Benton is in the Harris County Jail on a $150,000 bond after investigators with Constable Mark Herman's Criminal Investigations Division traced child sexual abuse material stored in an online account to a home on Lazy Meadows Drive in Harris County.

Investigators with Constable Mark Herman's Criminal Investigations Division received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child sexual abuse material being stored in an online account. The NCMEC operates the CyberTipline, established by Congress to process reports of child sexual exploitation, and reviews those reports before sharing them with the appropriate law enforcement agency or Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Upon further investigation, officials utilized search warrants and other processes, which led them to identify the source of the files as Terry Benton at a home on Lazy Meadows Drive. Officials stated additional investigation revealed that Benton was in possession of additional child sexual exploitation material.

Benton was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail and charged with three counts of possession of child pornography. Bond was set at $150,000.

Constable Precinct 4's office issued a statement following the arrest: "Our Office has taken a firm stance on identifying and eradicating child pornography and will continue to dedicate the necessary resources to seek out and charge those who prey on our children."

The CyberTipline that triggered the Precinct 4 investigation functions as the nation's primary digital reporting system for online child exploitation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline is the nation's centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children, accepting reports of suspected online enticement, child sexual abuse material, child sex tourism, and related crimes. Under federal law, electronic service providers such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and X are required to report apparent child pornography to NCMEC. NCMEC staff review each tip and work to find a potential location for the incident reported so that it may be made available to the appropriate law enforcement agency for possible investigation.

No arraignment date or case number had been made public as of Thursday. Precinct 4 did not specify which online platform was flagged, what devices were seized, or whether any files from the Benton case were submitted to NCMEC for additional forensic review. Anyone with information relevant to child exploitation cases in Harris County can contact the Harris County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force through Constable Precinct 4's office.