80-year-sentence imposed for sexual exploitation of multiple minor female victims

HOUSTON – A 26-year-old Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison for production and distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Xavier Jay Reyes pleaded guilty Aug. 15, 2022, to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of distribution of child pornography.

Today, U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Reyes to a total of 960 months in federal prison for all counts of conviction. He must also serve 10 years of supervised release, during which time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. 

In imposing the sentence, Judge Hittner also considered numerous impact statements from the exploited child victims Reyes used to create the child pornography he possessed in his collection.

Restitution will decided at a later date.

“Abhorrent and serial sexual abuse of minors will not be tolerated in the Southern District of Texas. Today’s sentencing makes that clear,” said Hamdani. “The damage has been done, but we hope this sentence gives some peace to the victims and helps in the long process of rebuilding their lives.”

In 2020, during an undercover online child pornography investigation, law enforcement discovered Reyes was producing and sharing images and videos of a minor female child engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The produced material included images and videos depicting Reyes engaging in violent, coercive and degrading abuse of the minor female victim.

A search warrant led to the discovery that Reyes abused and exploited at least two minor female victims for over a year. Reyes ultimately admitted to abusing at least one child victim.

Additionally, authorities discovered a collection of 907 images and 781 videos containing child pornography.

Reyes has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherin Daniel and Luis Batarse are prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.