ELGIN - A Bastrop County jury sentenced former Elgin police officer Orval Roger Miller, 48, on three third-degree felony counts of child pornography possession. Miller received a three-year prison term for the first charge and 10 years probation on the remaining charges. He also was fined $10,000.

A Bastrop County grand jury indicted Miller in September 2007 after he left a thumb drive containing child pornography in a police department computer. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's Cyber Crimes Unit prosecuted the case on behalf of the Bastrop County District Attorney's Office.

"Despite his promise to protect and serve his fellow Texans, the defendant engaged in behavior that harmed innocent children and is guilty of child pornography possession," Attorney General Abbott said. "Possessors and distributors of child pornography abuse children not only when images are made - but the cycle of abuse continues each time an image is viewed. We are grateful to the Bastrop District Attorney's Office and the Elgin Police Department for assistance with this case and their commitment to Texas children."

The Elgin Police Department referred the case to the Cyber Crimes Unit after reviewing Miller's external media and finding an explicit video of children being sexually assaulted. The thumb drive, which also contained Miller's resume and other personal documents, was discovered by another police officer and reported to the police chief. Prior to his police service in Elgin, Miller was employed as a community college police officer in Austin.

Attorney General Abbott has earned a national reputation for arresting and prosecuting online child predators. In 2003, he launched the Cyber Crimes Unit, which targets online predators by assuming the identities of young teenagers in Internet chat rooms, and the Fugitive Unit, which locates convicted sex offenders who have violated the terms of their parole. Attorney General Abbott's initiative has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests of such offenders. His office also has obtained convictions against more than 100 child pornographers.