South Texas man sentenced to 17 years for receiving child pornography

LAREDO, Texas — A south Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in federal prison following his conviction for receiving child pornography.

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

Maximiliano Cantu, 58, of McAllen, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane Dec. 10 to 204 months in federal prison. This sentence will be immediately followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Cantu was further ordered to pay $52,000 in restitution to known victims.  Judge Crane took into consideration the fact that the offense involved more than 400 movies and 3,000 images depicting child pornography occurring over more than 10 years. Additional information presented in court Thursday, included descriptions of the types of images received, such as images portraying sadistic conduct and prepubescent minors, and the fact that the defendant was distributing images in return for receiving additional images of child pornography.  Cantu pleaded guilty Oct. 28, 2014.

According to court documents, Cantu came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation which began Aug. 7, 2014 into persons using the Internet to traffic in child pornography. An HSI special agent was able to locate and identify a computer as offering to participate in receiving child pornography movies through the peer-to-peer network on the Internet. Through the investigation, it was determined that the computer was located in a residence in McAllen.

On Aug. 28, 2014, authorities executed a search warrant at that residence and obtained Cantu’s computer and various external media devices. A forensic examination on Cantu’s computer and storage media revealed more than 400 movies of child pornography involving clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. These movies included children under the age of 12 engaged in sadistic conduct and acts of violence. Some of the movies are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Cantu admitted he downloaded child pornography from the Internet thereby receiving the child pornography found on his computer and external storage media devices.

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

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Ann Leo and Alex Benavides, 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.