Special to The News

BEAUMONT — A Jasper woman has been sentenced to 320 months in federal prison for child exploitation violations in the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown announced Tuesday.

Janel Saphire Trahan, 33, pleaded guilty on Sep. 13 to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield. Sentence was imposed Jan. 23.

According to information presented in court, on Jan. 13, 2018, Trahan took a photograph of herself performing oral sex on a 2-year-old female and sent it to her husband. On Jan. 14, 2018, she sent the photograph in a private group chat using a mobile instant messaging application. Trahan was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 7, 2018.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Led by U.S. Attorneys’ 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Beaumont Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice.