Audio By Carbonatix
A little more than one year ago, Dr. James Shin was a Southlake resident and a family man and the Chair of the Internal Medicine Department at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Then, on September 17, 2007, officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement cybercrime unit discovered “numerous images and videos of child pornography” on his computer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including “visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” In July, Shin pleaded guilty to the charges, which is why, today in Dallas, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced the doctor to 42 months in federal prison and ordered that he pay a $25,000 fine. He could have received 10 years.
Shin has till January 6 to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons. And, says the release, “Judge Kinkeade also ordered
that Dr. Shin serve a lifetime of supervised release following his
release from prison and register as a sex offender.” Only, it’s likely that the doctor won’t stay long in the U.S.: After he gets out, the government will begin deportation proceedings that will likely find him returning to his native South Korea. –Robert Wilonsky
When news happens, Dallas Observer is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
