Gregory Man Gets 60 Years for Producing Child Pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 34-year-old resident of Gregory has been ordered to serve a 60-year federal prison term following his two convictions of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Daniel H. Aleman II was convicted Oct. 13, 2015, following a one-day bench trial before Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head.

Today, Judge Head ordered Aleman to serve 30 years on each count of conviction to be served consecutively for a total of 60 years  in federal prison. He will then be on supervised release for the rest of his life. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

Additional information was also presented today, including testimony from a federal agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The agent described the videos Aleman recorded while female customers were changing clothes in the dressing rooms at the Goodwill Store where Aleman worked. One video depicted a woman dressing a female child that the agent estimated was approximately four-years-old. The agent also described the videos of child pornography Aleman possessed, many of which depicted prepubescent females engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adult males. The court also took into consideration a victim letter read in court by the mother of two girls Aleman sexual assaulted. In the letter, the mother described the impact the sexual abuse has had on the children.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Head noted that this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. “Mr. Aleman, you should never walk the streets again,” he said.

At the time of the bench trial, the court heard that in December 2014, officers with the Portland Police Department were dispatched to a local Goodwill Store in reference to an employee video recording female customers while they were changing clothes in the dressing rooms. A customer reported that a store employee, later identified as Aleman, taped a small video recorder to the corner of a shopping cart. Aleman then positioned the shopping cart under the bottom gap of the dressing room door.

In January 2015, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Aleman’s residence and seized various electronic devices. A forensic analysis on those devices revealed more than 50 videos of child pornography, more than 20 videos of women in dressing rooms, a video of Aleman sexual assaulting an unconscious adult female and 12 videos of Aleman sexual assaulting two children. The children were identified and confirmed the abuse.

At trial, Aleman did not deny the allegations, only argued that the search was not valid. The court found him guilty as charged.

Aleman was arrested on federal charges in April 2015 and has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future

The charges are the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, Portland Police Department and the Corpus Christi Police Department - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."