South Texas man pleads guilty to federal charges of receiving sexually explicit child pornography involving children under 12

MCALLEN, Texas — A South Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of receiving child pornography involving children under 12 years old.

This guilty plea 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).

Eduardo Pena, 33, from Palmview, Texas, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez. Judge Alvarez accepted Pena's guilty plea and set his sentencing for June 16. At that time, Pena faces a minimum of five and up to 20 years in federal prison, and a possible $250,000 fine.

According to court documents, Pena came to the attention of law enforcement following a child pornography investigation which began Nov. 15, 2015. HSI special agents were able to locate and identify Pena as the owner of a computer offering to participate in receiving child pornography movies through a peer-to-peer network.

HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Pena's Palmview residence Jan. 13, 2016, at which time they seized computers and an external storage media device.  Forensic examination of these devices revealed 49 movies of clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. These movies included children under the age of 12 engaged in sadistic conduct, bondage and acts of violence.

Pena admitted he downloaded child pornography from the Internet, thereby receiving and possessing the child pornography found on his computer and external storage media.

Pena will remain in custody pending his next court hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Wang, 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.