Federal investigators say 61-year-old Terry Joe Sides Jr. was out here being a “relatively sophisticated computer user,” which in Lubbock apparently means knowing how to open an incognito window and pretend that erasing your browser history is the same as not committing a felony. After both the Texas Attorney General’s Office and Homeland Security downloaded child sexual abuse material from the same file-sharing site linked to his RV on 34th Street, investigators traced everything right back to him. (Pro tip: The Internet still remembers. Always.)
When they searched his place, they say they found encrypted hard drives, Dark Web access, and a text file that reads like the world’s most horrifying AIM chatroom throwback. There were also 3D-rendered images of pre-teen girls, because apparently the phrase “seek help” has never once crossed this man’s mind.
Once the feds started asking real questions, he did the classic move: clammed up and asked for a lawyer. Arrest followed. He’s being held without bond, because yeah—no one’s letting “Dark Web Grandpa Gone Horrifically Wrong” back out into public.
His arraignment is set for November 3, where he will presumably continue not explaining anything at all.
Every time Lubbock hits a new low, the city looks up and says, “You know what? Bet we can go lower.”
