Former North Texas police officer given three life sentences for child pornography, solicitation of minor

A former police officer in Itasca was given three life sentences for possession of child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from a minor.Former Itasca officer sentencedDaniel Joseph Bates, a former police officer with the Itasca Police Department, was convicted on Wednesday of possessing child pornography and online solicitation of a minor.He was given three life sentences for the child pornography charges and 40 years for the solicitation charge by a Johnson County judge.Bates was arrested by the Texas Rangers after online communication with what he thought was a 15-year-old girl. An adult decoy was posing as the girl, who alerted authorities to Bates.A search warrant was executed at Bates' residence, where investigators found nearly 300 videos and photos of children being sexually abused.Bates later testified he possessed the child pornography due to a secret police investigation into human traffickers. He was a reserve officer at the time of his arrest and had been working in co