A League City resident will spend the next three decades in federal prison after prosecutors said he paid to watch children in the Philippines being sexually abused in live online broadcasts.
Jeffrey Scott Lacy, 47, pleaded guilty to producing, receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material and on Tuesday was sentenced to 360 months in prison in Galveston. Federal prosecutors describe the case as part of a broader push to crack down on online child exploitation.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, Lacy entered his guilty plea on Feb. 10. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown ordered that once Lacy finishes his 30-year term, he will serve six years of supervised release. He must register as a sex offender and will face restrictions on contact with children and use of the internet. Lacy will remain in custody until he is transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
Investigators say Lacy’s crimes stretched over several years. As reported by MyTexasDaily, Lacy used an online platform between 2017 and 2023 to solicit and buy explicit livestreamed videos of children, including victims as young as four years old. He negotiated prices and even discussed providing a phone in exchange for images, according to investigators.
The same local reporting notes that a search warrant executed at Lacy’s home turned up a cell phone and a laptop. Forensic examiners reportedly found roughly 20 images of child sexual abuse material, along with messages between Lacy and a person in the Philippines who had access to a minor. Authorities say he requested sexual activity over video calls and expressed interest in traveling to meet that child in person.
Investigation and evidence
The U.S. Attorney's Office says the investigation was led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit in Galveston, with assistance from the Pearland Police Department, League City Police Department and the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to the federal release, a forensic examination uncovered child sexual abuse material and communications tying Lacy to the exploitation scheme.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative focused on identifying and pursuing offenders who exploit children online. In this case, that effort ended with a 30-year sentence and a clear signal that live-streamed abuse is treated no differently than hands-on offenses in the eyes of the court.
