South Texas man sentenced to 6½ years for possessing child pornography

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A South Texas man was sentenced Wednesday to 6 ½ years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

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

Issac Gonzalez, 62, from Los Fresnos, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge, Rolando Olvera who ordered Gonzalez to serve 78 months in prison July 5 to include a life time of supervised release. Judge Olvera also ordered Gonzalez to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet, to include registering as a sex offender for life. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charges April 4.

According to court documents, the investigation into Gonzalez began as authorities were looking into persons using peer-to-peer software to exchange and view child pornography. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Gonzalez’s residence on Feb. 15, 2017, which led to the discovery of 1,650 images of child pornography on his laptop. These images contained depictions of prepubescent minors, including one video depicting the sexual abuse of a toddler.

Gonzalez has been in custody since his arrest. He is pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Jason Corley and Ana Cano, Southern District of Texas is prosecuting 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 16,000 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 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 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. HSI is a founding member 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.