South Texan admits to receiving child porn via messaging app

McALLEN, Texas – A 20-year-old resident of Edinburg has pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography depicting prepubescent minors, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Lazaro Segundo-Vazquez admitted to receiving over 1,800 images and video files containing child sexual abuse material.

An alert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led authorities to a residence in Edinburg appearing to be uploading child pornography to a Google account. The investigation revealed Segundo-Vazquez received images and videos containing child sexual abuse material via a third-party messaging application on his cellular phone.

Segundo-Vazquez admitted to receiving child sexual abuse material that included videos and images of prepubescent children and toddlers. The material depicted children engaged in sexual acts with adults and other children. Segundo-Vazquez then uploaded several images of child sexual abuse material to a Google account.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa will impose sentencing Aug. 18. At that time, Segundo-Vazquez faces up to 20 years in prison.

He will remain in custody pending that hearing.

Homeland Security Investigations - Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cahal P. McColgan 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 link on that page.