HOPKINS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – A man has been indicted for production and transportation of child pornography after being arrested back in August.
On Aug. 15, Chief Investigator with the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office Corley Weatherford received a “Priority One” CyberTipline from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). According to the affidavit, a “Priority One” tip means that there is “current or imminent risk to an individual” and the NCMEC was concerned that the files had been “recently produced or homemade.”
According to the CyberTip, the files came from an email under Billy Joe Truss’ name and there were videos that included child pornography uploaded into Truss’s Google Photos and Google Drive accounts.
The affidavit stated there were approximately 68 files found that contained child pornography and some of the videos showed Truss performing sexual acts on a 3-year-old child. All of the videos were reportedly filmed and uploaded to Truss’ Google accounts between January 2023 and August 2023.
Records revealed that Child Protective Services had recent history with the Truss family and after viewing the videos, CPS personnel confirmed that it was Billy Joe Truss in the videos and filming them on a mobile phone.
After Truss was arrested on the warrant issued by Franklin County Judge Eddie Northcutt, he agreed to speak with authorities and reportedly admitted to the crimes as well as sending a 30-second video of child pornography to someone on WhatsApp. Truss reportedly told authorities he had been communicating with this individual for about two years but never met them in person.
Truss has been indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of production of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography.
