Kansas City resident sentenced to 20 years for child pornography

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, resident was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for possessing child pornography.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Platte County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department.

Raul E. Villalva, aka Isabelle Villalva, a biological male who identifies as a female (transgender woman), 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 20 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

Villalva previously pleaded guilty to the charge Oct. 9, 2019.

In July 2018, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from an online file hosting service that a user of the service, later determined to live in the Kansas City area, had uploaded 42 files of child pornography.

After further investigation, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Villalva’s residence Oct. 3, 2018. Villalva disclosed that an adult male with whom he shared the residence had previously sent him, by cell phone, videos and pictures of the adult male sexually assaulting a child victim at the defendant’s residence.

Investigators seized Villalva’s cell phone, which contained videos and images of child pornography. Some of the child pornography depicted in Villalva’s cell phone depicted the child victim being molested by the adult male, while a single video depicted Villalva also engaging in sexual contact with the same child victim.

The court also sentenced Villalva to 20 years of supervised release following incarceration, and he will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. He will also be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna.