Round Rock Man Charged With Three Counts Of Child Pornography Possession

ROUND ROCK, TX — Police have charged a Round Rock man with three counts of possession of child pornography after a search warrant was executed at his home, officials said Friday.

The Child Exploitation Unit of the Texas Attorney General's office said Joe Lawrence Islas, 55, was arrested for the third-degree felony counts. He faces up to 10 years in prison per charge if convicted.

Following a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), CEU investigators executed a search warrant at Islas’ residence, where child pornography was recovered on a digital storage device, officials said. Investigators seized additional digital storage devices that will be examined by the attorney general’s Digital Forensics Unit, officials added.

AG officials said Islas declined to be interviewed, and was subsequently booked into Williamson County Jail without incident.

This marks the second time this week that someone from Round Rock was found in possession of child pornography. On Thursday, reports emerged that Tyrell VanWinkle, a 22-year-old assistant debate club coach at Stony Point High School, received sexually explicit photos from a student with whom he was having a sexual relationship as well as another female student at the school. Round Rock ISD officials terminated VanWinkle but said he had passed their background check protocol when hired.

Officials at the AG's office urge members of the public to report anyone suspected of producing or downloading child pornography by reporting them to NCMEC. For more information on cyber safety, click here.

>>> Booking photo of Joe Lawrence Islas courtesy of the Office of Texas Attorney General