Rockwall man sentenced to 50 years for possession of child pornography

ROCKWALL, TX (Sept. 21, 2023) This week, 382nd Judicial District Judge Brett Hall sentenced Stacey Christian Owens to fifty (50) years in the penitentiary after Owens pled guilty to five counts of Possession of Child Pornography.

Owens, 49, was arrested in July of 2022 after officers and detectives with the Rockwall Police Department executed a search warrant on his home in the City of Rockwall. The search of Owens’ home was the culmination of an investigation that began in February of 2022 and spanned several months.

The investigation began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information from Google that they had detected child pornography in a Google Gmail account. NCMEC sent the information to the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including Rockwall Police Department Detective Philip Young, which connected the Gmail account to Owens and his residence on Valiant Drive. Texas Ranger Bruce Sherman, a member of the task force, interviewed Owens as detectives searched the residence pursuant to the warrant.

After seizing electronics from Owens’ home, Det. Young conducted an extensive search of Owens’ laptop computer and cell phone and uncovered over 14,000 files containing child pornography.  No Rockwall County children were identified in the videos and photos; however, each of the files depicted a real child abuse victim. Further, the images depicted small children, including infants being painfully sexually assaulted.  Det. Young also located numerous messages in which Owens expressed his interest in having sex with children, including infants, bestiality, and other paraphilic behavior.  Det. Young used the computer forensic training he received at the National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, Alabama to write a 118 page expert report that detailed Owens’ online activity.

Owens has a criminal record which includes sex and drug offenses.  In 2002, Owens exposed himself to an uncover Dallas police officer in a bathroom at NorthPark Mall in Dallas and received probation for Indecent Exposure.  In 2007, Owens was convicted of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine) in Dallas County and received probation.

“What Stacey Owens did in the darkness is now in the light,” said Rockwall County Assistant District Attorney Justin Almand. “I’m thankful that our local law enforcement has the experience and expertise to solve these cyber crimes.”

“It continues to shock me that this type of egregious behavior is happening in our own community,” said Rockwall County District Attorney Kenda Culpepper.  “Tragically, children around the world are tortured and shamed to gratify these repellent individuals.  I hope every one of them hears about the sentence in this case.”

  arrest, child pornography, feature, infant, owens, Rockwall