Source: Office of United States Attorneys
A former professor of theology and librarian at the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Charles Kilby Bellinger, 63, was arrested in October 2024 by the Fort Worth Police Department after TCU’s IT staff reported they had detected pornographic images with concerning file names, including “infant” and “toddler,” on Bellinger’s work computer. He was charged by federal complaint, which stated that investigators found multiple sexually explicit images of pre-pubescent minors on a hard drive and an SD card removed from Bellinger’s office.
In early January 2025, Bellinger pled guilty to federal charges of possessing child pornography. Today, he was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman, who also ordered that Bellinger pay restitution of $6,000 to certain victims and that Bellinger be taken into custody immediately following the hearing.
Acting U.S. Attorney Meacham praised the work of the law enforcement agencies that conducted the investigation, including the U.S. Secret Service, the Fort Worth Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, and the Texas Christian University Campus Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Saleem prosecuted the case.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”