North Texas man admits downloading child pornography of children as young as 2 years old

DALLAS — A north Texas man appeared in federal court Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney, and pleaded guilty to an Information charging one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

Isaac Heredia Luciano, 25, of Garland, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of not less than five years or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. A sentencing date was not set. Luciano has been in federal custody since he surrendered to authorities last month on a related federal charge outlined in a criminal complaint.

According to documents filed in the case, a detective with the Garland Police Department, working in an undercover capacity and using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to investigate the distribution of child pornography, identified a computer that was sharing images of child pornography. In fact, on various dates from September 2011 until August 2012, the detective downloaded 27 images and videos of child pornography from that computer, including videos involving children as young as 2 years old, who could be heard on the videos crying and yelling "mommy."

In late August 2012, a search warrant was executed at Luciano's home in Garland, and computers and related storage equipment were seized. Luciano admitted that he had been downloading child pornography, and in fact, had downloaded child pornography the previous day. He explained that he had a "sickness" with child pornography. He admitted that videos he downloaded ranged from "diaper porn" to toddlers to teens, and that he possessed videos that included bondage and other sadistic acts involving minors.

The case is being investigated by the Garland Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE 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, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.