Skip to main content
Press Release

Former Silverado High School Head Softball Coach Convicted Of Federal Child Exploitation And Pornography Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Following a three-day jury trial, a man who was employed as the head softball coach at Silverado High School in Henderson, Nev., has been convicted of multiple counts of child sex exploitation for causing the production of child pornography and exchanging sexually explicit text messages and photographs with a minor girl, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
           
            Albert Silva Hernandez, Jr., 44, of Las Vegas, was convicted on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, of eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.  He faces 15 years minimum and 30 years maximum in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.  Hernandez is in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 5, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan.

            According to the indictment and the evidence introduced at trial, Hernandez, a softball coach for Silverado High School and for a competitive club team, had sexual relations with one of his 17-year-old players and photographed the sexual acts with his cellular telephone camera, and sent the images to the girl.  Hernandez also had the girl photograph herself naked and send those images to him by her cellular telephone. The pornographic images were produced and the text messages were exchanged between Hernandez and the victim, on December 25, 2011, January 29, February 1, and February 2, 2012.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Clark County School District Police.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Cushman and Roger Yang. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources.

Updated January 29, 2015

Component