Southeast Texas man sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison for producing child pornography by sexually abusing 2 victims

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Southeast Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 17 ½ years in prison following his two convictions for producing child pornography by sexually abusing two female victims.

This sentence 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), with the assistance of the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Mark Hamauei, 29, was sentenced May 4 to 210 months in federal prison by Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. Hamauei was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison on each count, which will run concurrently. He was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release in each count, and must pay $1,229.08 in restitution. Hamauei pleaded guilty to the charges Jan. 6, 2017, and admitted that he took sexually explicit videos of a 13- and a 14-year-old victim.

At the May 4 hearing, the court also heard testimony from one of the victims. She described to the court the impact the crime has had on her life and her family.

Hamauei came to the attention of law enforcement after discovering two young females who had been sexually assaulted. Law enforcement later executed a search warrant at Hamauei's residence and seized various electronic devices which led to the discovery of two videos of the two girls being sexually assaulted. Hamauei's hands were compared and matched to the hand of the person filming the video. Authorities also discovered 239 videos and more than 1,400 other images of child pornography. Many of these images depicted sadistic or masochistic conduct including bondage of children as young as toddlers.

Hamauei was arrested on the federal charges in October 2016 and has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending his transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

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.