Ex-Austin ISD Teacher Gets 200-Month Prison Term for Child Pornography

A former Austin Independent School District elementary school teacher was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in federal prison after investigators discovered hundreds of thousands of child sexual abuse material files on devices seized during an investigation.

Carl David Innmon, 51, received a sentence of 200 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography in federal court in Austin.

According to court records, a forensic review of Innmon's electronic devices uncovered more than 16,000 files depicting child sexual abuse material on a laptop computer and another 349,728 files stored on an external hard drive. Investigators said thousands of the images involved children younger than 12 years old.

Innmon worked as a fifth-grade teacher in Austin ISD at the time of his arrest in April 2025 and previously served as a substitute teacher at approximately 20 other schools in the district. He had faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons of the Western District of Texas announced the sentence and said federal prosecutors would continue pursuing cases involving the exploitation of children.

"This now-convicted pedophile was tasked with caring for the most vulnerable among us: our children," Simmons said in a statement. He added that his office would "always aggressively pursue" offenders involved in child exploitation crimes.

The investigation was led by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, with assistance from state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Sparks prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government.

Federal prosecutors said the case reflects continued efforts by law enforcement agencies across Texas to identify individuals possessing or distributing child sexual abuse material and to pursue lengthy prison sentences for those convicted of such crimes.