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Press Release

Fresno Man Convicted on Two Counts of Receiving and Distributing Child Pornography

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

FRESNO, Calif. — Late Wednesday afternoon, after a two–day trial, a federal jury found Alfonso Hernandez, 58, of Fresno, guilty of two counts of receiving and distributing child pornography, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to evidence presented at trial, in January 2012, agents identified Hernandez’s computer making over 500 separate child pornography files publicly available online to other users within a peer-to-peer file sharing network. A search warrant was executed at Hernandez’s residence, and in a bedroom secured with a deadbolt lock, agents seized a computer and external hard drives that were found to contain child pornography. Ultimately, it was determined that Hernandez had downloaded and shared thousands of child pornography files onto these devices. Hernandez was arrested in September 2014 and has been in custody since that time.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Kings County District Attorney’s Office of Investigation, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Brian W. Enos and Vincenza Rabenn are prosecuting the case.

“Defendants who distribute child pornography prey on innocent victims from behind their screens where they often think they cannot be found,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of HSI San Francisco. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we remain vigilant in our tireless efforts to root out child predators from the shadows that they lurk.”

Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Dale A. Drozd on October 17, 2016. Hernandez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine regarding each count. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This 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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.

Updated July 1, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Press Release Number: 1:12-cr-382 DAD