United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

AUSTIN, TEXAS, MAN SENTENCED TO 27 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON,
WITHOUT PAROLE, FOR PRODUCING AND TRANSPORTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

LUBBOCK, Texas — James Vallejo Salazar, 25, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 327 months (more than 27 years) in federal prison, following his guilty plea in December 2009 to one count each of production and transportation of child pornography. In addition, Judge Cummings ordered that Salazar serve a lifetime of supervised release following his incarceration. Salazar has been in custody since his arrest in September 2009 at his home in Austin.

According to plea documents filed, Salazar admitted that in approximately May 2009, he met a 15-year-old girl (Jane Doe), from Big Spring, Texas, on MySpace.com, an Internet social networking website. Thereafter, Salazar and Jane Doe continued to communicate with each other, primarily by telephone chat (SMS, or short messaging service). During the initial introduction of Jane Doe to Salazar, she disclosed her age as 15-years-old.

A few months later, in approximately July 2009, the communications between Salazar and 15-year-old Jane Doe became sexual in nature. Salazar and Jane Doe began discussing plans to have her move to Austin to live with Salazar. Jane Doe would also bring her infant daughter, Jane Doe 2, who was less than one year of age, to live with her and Salazar.

From late August through early September 2009, Salazar requested, via text messaging from his cell phone, that Jane Doe produce sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe 2. Jane Doe received the messages at her place of residence in Big Spring, Texas.

In addition, regarding the transportation conviction, Salazar also transported child pornography, by telephone, to Jane Doe, in Big Spring. On September 4, 2009, between 11:02 p.m., and 11:05 p.m. Salazar sent Jane Doe a computer image depicting a female child under the age of 18, engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

On September 11, 2009, a search warrant was executed at Salazar's residence in Austin. He was cooperative with law enforcement agents, and when questioned by U.S. Immigration and

1Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, he stated that he had received the sexually explicit image of the infant female (Jane Doe 2), as he had requested. Salazar advised that he deleted the image upon receiving it.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The case was investigated by ICE San Angelo and Austin, Texas; the Big Spring Police Department; and Texas Child Protective Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney's Office, was in charge of the prosecution.

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