San Antonio Man Sentenced to Federal Prison on Child Pornography Charges

In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced 43-year-old Jason Lee Sarabia to 285 months in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered that Sarabia be placed on supervised release for a period of 20 years after completing his prison term.

On February 26, 2020, jurors convicted Sarabia on two counts of receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. 

Evidence presented at trial revealed that the FBI downloaded thousands of child pornography files from Sarabia between August and November of 2017.  On November 30, 2017, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence and seized two cell phones.  A forensic search of the seized phones revealed a file sharing application and the presence of more than 1,000 images depicting prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit activity. 

“I am grateful for the incredible work of the San Antonio FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force on this case.  People who acquire and distribute child pornography create the incentive for others to abuse children in horrific ways.  We will prosecute them aggressively,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash. 

“While life has changed a great deal for all of us during the past several weeks, one disturbing and horrifying constant is that children in our community, and around the world, continue to suffer every day at the hands of sexual predators.  The FBI’s San Antonio Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force is committed to protecting children from sexual exploitation by holding both producers and consumers of child pornography accountable,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Combs.  “I am extremely proud of the Task Force and the FBI’s Computer Analysis Recovery Team, which overcame extraordinary investigative challenges to recover critical evidence in this investigation.  Their hard work and dedication not only resulted in a successful prosecution, but the identification of additional victims.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. 

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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.