Central Texas man sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on federal child pornography conviction

LUBBOCK, Texas — A Central Texas man, who pleaded guilty in July 2017 to two counts of receiving child pornography, was sentenced last week by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 168 months in federal prison.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. This case was investigated by the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, the Brown County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office, and the Brownwood Police Department.

According to documents filed in the case, in December 2016 and February 2017, Sebastian Contreras, 22, of Brownwood, Texas, used the internet to download images of child pornography depicting girls under the age of 18 years engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Contreras will begin serving his prison sentence on Dec. 1.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, Nothern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.