Former Teacher Sentenced On Child Pornography Conviction

LAREDO, Texas – Jorge Valadez, 53, a former high school teacher in Laredo, has been handed a 52-month prison term for possessing child pornography on his computer, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. He pleaded guilty Nov. 13, 2013, to possessing four videos of child pornography between June 1, 2013, and Sept. 13, 2013.

Senior U.S. District Judge George Kazen handed down the sentence which will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Valadez was sharing his computer’s files on a peer-to-peer network. An investigator was able to download two complete and two partial videos tracked to Valadez for examination.

Federal authorities executed search and seizure warrants for Valdez his home, automobile, computers and electronic storage devices on Sept. 13, 2013. At that time, Valadez agreed to speak with the agents and admitted he had downloaded child pornography videos and images over the prior five years out of curiosity, adding that he was unsure of how many videos he had actually downloaded.

Agents located four videos containing child pornography  on his computer. Valadez further admitted he had his computer “cleaned” shortly before the encounter with federal authorities.

Valadez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The investigation was conducted by the Webb County Sheriff’s Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorneys Jose Homero Ramirez and Sonah Lee prosecuted the case.