LUBBOCK, Texas — Three men from the South Plains took plea deals this week related to child pornography. Warning, even though we held back many of the details, the information in this story may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised.
John Lewis Mangles
John Lewis Mangles, 55, of Littlefield accepted a plea agreement for possession of child pornography involving a pre-pubescent minor. Court records said in March 2018 an undercover officer with New Mexico Crimes Against Children found 25 images online in a BitTorrent that were traced back to Mangles. From there, the FBI located him and questioned him.
In all, the FBI found 1,087 images of child pornography on his electronic devices. Mangles admitted to looking for images with the search term pthc which is short for pre-teen hardcore, according to court records.
Some of the images involved children who had not reached the age of 12, court records said. At least one of the videos Mangles had depicted an adult man sexually abusing a “small, prepubescent child.”
If the plea deal is accepted, Mangles will be sentenced at a later date to no more than 20 years in federal prison.
Brandon Robert Matteson
Brandon Robert Matteson formerly of Slaton, age not listed, accepted a plea agreement for possession of child pornography involving a pre-pubescent minor.
In January 2019, law enforcement got a tip about child pornography on DropBox. The files included seven (7) still images and 77 videos “including images and videos of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Court records said the FBI found Matteson and talked to him in Amarillo. He admitted to uploading the files on DropBox. The FBI searched his cell phone and found 34 images and seven (7) videos of child pornography including children under the age of 12.
If the deal is accepted by a judge, Matteson will be sentenced at a later date to no more than 20 years in federal prison.
Benjamin Michael Matthews
Benjamin Michael Matthews, 40, of Snyder accepted a plea agreement for possession of child pornography involving a pre-pubescent minor.
In January 2018 Google sent a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The FBI then requested a search warrant for Matthews’ Google account including his Gmail.
“The FBI counted over 600 separate images of child pornography, including images depicting sexual acts and sexual intercourse involving prepubescent females, females under the age of 12, and infants,” court records said.
Court records said one image portrayed an adult man sexually abusing an infant.
The FBI found Matthews and talked to him. He admitted he possessed the child pornography.
If his deal is accepted by a judge, he will be sentenced at later date to no more than 20 years in federal prison.
