Press Release
Registered sex offender gets 30 years for using social media to distribute child pornography
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas
GALVESTON – A 46-year-old Alvin resident has been ordered to federal prison after his convictions of transportation and possession of child sexual assault material (CSAM), announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
David Lopez Jr. pleaded guilty June 27, 2024.
Today, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown sentenced him to 360 months on each of the two transportation counts and 120 months for each of the two possession counts. They will run concurrently for a total 360-month-term of imprisonment. The court heard additional evidence regarding his lengthy criminal history and his sexual interest in children which dated back to 2014.
Judge Brown considered how Lopez committed this offense while he was registering as a sex offender for his 2006 convictions for sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. The court also took into consideration the victims through their impact statements read in court. He considered how his conduct affected those minors of whom he had collected images and videos that were found in his collection.
Lopez was furthered ordered to pay restitution to the victims and will be on supervised release following the completion of his prison term for the rest of his life. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to the internet.
“This is an individual who has a deep-seated sexual interest in children that cannot be deterred,” said Hamdani. “After two decades of sexually exploiting children by his hands-on offenses and trading child pornography, he must be stopped. The only way to do that is by giving him to a lengthy prison sentence which is what the court did today.”
“With today’s sentencing we have removed a dangerous predator from the community who has shown absolutely no remorse for his heinous actions two decades ago when he sexually assaulted a young child and destroyed an innocent life,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “Instead, while registered as a sex offender, he has actively engaged in trafficking the sexual abuse materials that force child victims to relive their worst nightmare in perpetuity. HSI Houston is committed to continuing to aggressively pursue anyone who preys on the vulnerability of our children and will not rest until we have eradicated southeast Texas of this pure form of evil.”
In 2016, Lopez came to the attention of law enforcement after learning he was using social media to distribute files depicting CSAM. From 2016 until 2020, Lopez used multiple sites to upload CSAM to his accounts between Feb. 19, 2016, and Jan. 14, 2020.
Authorities arrested Lopez in February 2020 for failure to comply with his sex offender registration. At that time, he admitted to viewing child pornography. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Lopez’s phone and found 100 images and 60 videos of young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos depicted babies/toddlers and acts of violence such as the penetration of the victims, bestiality, bondage and sadistic and masochistic conduct.
After serving his sentence for the failure to comply with his sex offender registration and possession of a controlled substance, Lopez began transporting, distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography again. Lopez was arrested in October 2022 and once again admitted to trading and viewing child pornography.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations - Galveston conducted the investigation with the assistance of Pearland Police Department, Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted 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.
Updated January 14, 2025
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
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