Honduran man living in North Texas sentenced to more than 8 years in federal prison on child pornography conviction

DALLAS — A Honduran man living in North Texas was sentenced Wednesday to eight years and four months in federal prison following his guilty plea in March to one count of transporting child pornography.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker, Northern District of Texas. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Plano (Texas) Police Department.

Luis Vasquez-Sanchez, 34, living in Grand Prairie, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in January on a related federal criminal complaint. He will be referred for deportation proceedings after he serves his prison sentence.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in July 2014 when a detective with the Plano Police Department was working in an undercover capacity to identify persons participating in distributing child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children through the use of peer-to-peer file sharing. The detective identified Vasquez-Sanchez as an individual linked to a computer that was making images of child pornography available to share.

In January 2015, HSI special agents contacted and consensually interviewed Vasquez-Sanchez at his residence, and he allowed agents to search his computer. During that search, several images and videos of child pornography were discovered. A subsequent forensic examination of the computer revealed more than 100 images and 50 videos of child pornography. Some of the images and videos he collected depicted sadistic and/or violent content; some files depicted infants and toddlers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks, Northern 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 12,000 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 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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 and current chair 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.