Lubbock Man Faces Up To 20 Years In Federal Prison For Possessing Prepubescent Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — A 43-year-old Lubbock, Texas, resident appeared in federal court yesterday and pleaded guilty to one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Eduardo Cantillo, who is in custody, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ordered a presentence investigation report with a sentencing date to be set after the completion of that report.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Cantillo used a computer at his residence to search the Internet for images and videos of child pornography. In the course of those searches, Cantillo located, downloaded and viewed numerous images and videos constituting child pornography. Cantillo also saved some of the material onto a thumb drive. Some of the images involved prepubescent minors.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy is prosecuting.