Smith County man sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for child exploitation violations

TYLER, Texas – A Tyler man has been sentenced to federal prison for child exploitation violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Enrique Adrian Gomez, 29, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle on July 30, 2025.

According to information presented in court, Gomez met two minor victims online in September 2021 and continued communicating with them through November 2021. Both minors were less than 13 years old at the time.  Gomez communicated with the victims through text messaging and social media applications. During these real-time online conversations, the victims were persuaded to engage in prohibited sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct.

“The ease with which Gomez was able to communicate with the minor victims here is a reminder of the constant threat that social media applications can pose to children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.  “Under the guise of online friendship, Gomez persuaded these children to engage in adult acts that no child should be doing, let alone be doing online.  Our office is committed to stopping criminals like Gomez in their tracks, but the most important tool to stop online predators is an active and engaged parent. Nothing protects children better than a parent who sets and enforces limits on a child’s online activities and actively monitors their social media presence.”

This case is 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security—Homeland Security Investigations and the Ilion, New York Police Department.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Austin Wells.

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