A Colorado City man has been ordered to serve 19 years in federal prison after admitting he distributed child sexual abuse material, according to federal court records. Prosecutors say the case centered on an explicit video of a very young child and a wider pattern of sharing illegal files online.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, officials said 34-year-old Skyler Shoemaker was indicted in May and pleaded guilty in August to one count of distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix imposed a 228-month sentence on December 11, 2025.
What prosecutors say
Prosecutors say Shoemaker used Facebook Messenger to send a sexually explicit video of a four- to six-year-old child to his girlfriend, Angel Bradford, and that he shared additional illegal material across multiple online platforms, according to MyTexasDaily. Bradford, 33, of Hermleigh, pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced in November to five years in federal prison.
Investigation and prosecution
The FBI Dallas Field Office’s Abilene Resident Agency, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Abilene Police Department Cyber Crimes Unit led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Ohlhausen handled the prosecution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. At Shoemaker’s sentencing, prosecutors also told the court that he committed sexual acts in front of minors and distributed illicit material to other users online.
Resources and context
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative that targets online child exploitation. Anyone with information or concerns about child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or file a report through its CyberTipline. More information is available at missingkids.org.
