McAllen Man Heads to Prison for Receiving Child Pornography Videos

McALLEN, Texas – A 28-year old resident of McAllen has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of one count of receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Jesus Salvador Lara-Perez pleaded guilty Dec. 5, 2016.

Today, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa handed Lara-Perez a 66-month-sentence. Lara-Perez was further ordered to $750 in restitution to a known victim and will serve five years of supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

Lara-Perez came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation which began on Nov. 8, 2015, into persons using the internet to traffic in child pornography. A special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was able to locate and identify a computer as offering to participate in the receipt of child pornography videos through the peer-to-peer network on the Internet. Through the investigation, it was determined the computer was located at a residence in McAllen. 

On June 28, 2016, authorities executed a federal search warrant at that residence, during which time they seized a laptop computer. A forensic examination on the computer revealed 198 videos and 109 images of child pornography involving clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. These videos included children under the age of 12 involved in sadistic conduct, bondage and other depictions of violence. Some of the videos are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Lara-Perez admitted he downloaded and viewed child pornography from the Internet, thereby receiving the child pornography found on his laptop computer. He admitted he had been downloading child pornography for approximately three years.  

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

HSI conducted the investigation.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Benavides, 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."