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A guard tower and razor wire at a prison in Texas. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
DALLAS – A North Texas man was sentenced Friday to 40 years in federal prison for his involvement in a dark web conspiracy to produce child pornography and sexually exploit children, Acting Louisiana U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced.
Michael Bo Peacock, 50, of Denton, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to 480 months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Peacock was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.
Peacock pleaded guilty on Nov. 21, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of enticing a child to engage in criminal sexual activity.
The backstory:
According to information presented in court, from January to November 2023, Peacock and his co-defendant, Daniel Perryman Collins, 35, of Pineville, Louisiana, conspired to cause children to produce sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. They used threats and blackmail for their sexual gratification, exploiting more than 100 child victims, agents found.
Peacock, operating from the Dallas area, and Collins, working out of the Pineville area, would contact victims online and through social media. They would convince the child to engage in sexually explicit activity and provide videos, then use blackmail and threats to coerce more material.
Collins, who was sentenced in February 2025 to 325 months (27 years, one month) in prison for the same offenses, utilized advanced security measures to make the images untraceable. The two defendants shared the material on an overseas cloud-based file hosting service.
Investigators with the FBI Child Exploitation Operational Unit identified the two men and, after a search warrant was executed at Collins’ residence in Pineville on Nov. 16, 2023, agents gained access to the shared account and downloaded all the child pornography the pair had produced and posted.
What they’re saying:
“This sentence should send a strong message to anyone who may be involved in this type of behavior and the sexual exploitation of minor children that this crime will not be tolerated,” said Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. “Our office and the state and federal agents who investigate these cases are committed to standing strong together in the fight to end this type of illegal activity in our nation and internationally. We will continue to work to protect our children from being preyed upon by offenders such as this.”
“Through relentless investigations and cutting-edge technology, the FBI works every day to uncover hidden networks that exploit children,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Jose A. Perez. “This case underscores the relentless dedication of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit to ensuring no predator can thrive at the expense of our children. Offenders like Michael Bo Peacock preyed on some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, and we will stop at nothing to identify, investigate and bring these predators to justice.”
What you can do:
To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – referred to in legal terms as “child pornography” – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.Â
These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 36 million reports of the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials.Â
To file a report with NCMEC, go to https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678.
The Source: Information in this article is from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana.