Former South Texas church volunteer sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography

LAREDO, Texas — A former volunteer with a South Texas church was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in federal prison following his conviction of possession of child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of McAllen Police Department.

Fidel Perales-Castillo, 44, of Laredo, was sentenced Dec. 8 by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo to 121 months in federal prison. Judge Marmolejo took into consideration that Perales-Castillo possessed child pornography depicting children younger than 12 years of age. Additional information was also presented Tuesday, including descriptions of the types and amount of images possessed and a victim impact statement.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Marmolejo stated that Perales-Castillo should apologize first and foremost to the victims in this case and commented on the continued victimization they suffer when people such as Perales-Castillo view and share child pornography. Perales-Castillo was ordered to pay $5,431.01 in restitution to a known victim and will be subject to 20 years of supervised release, which includes the provision of registering as a sex offender. Perales-Castillo, a Mexican citizen, is also subject to deportation after he completes his prison term. Perales-Castillo, pleaded guilty to the charges April 23.

According to court documents, Perales-Castillo was encountered by an undercover investigator in a peer-to-peer file-sharing network where he had 10 files of suspected child pornography available for download. Five of those videos were successfully downloaded and found to contain child pornography. Some of the images and videos involved children under the age of 12.

A search warrant was executed on Perales-Castillo’s home, at which time law enforcement seized several computers and storage devices. At that time, Perales-Castillo confessed that he had been downloading and viewing child pornography via the Internet. He further admitted that he had a particular interest in 7-year-old girls, but denied ever physically harming a child.

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

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Sarah Ellison, Southern 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 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 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.