Southeast Texas man sentenced to more than 7 years for possessing child pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Southeast Texas man was sentenced Tuesday to 87 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD).

David Arturo Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography on Oct. 6, 2011. In July 2010, a detective with CCPD's Internet Crimes against Children Task Force downloaded two images of child pornography from a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on the Interne, later determined to have been sent by Martinez.

In January 2011, the same detective again downloaded several additional images of child pornography from Martinez. A search warrant was executed at Martinez's Corpus Christi residence on Feb. 10, 2011, and a computer was seized. A subsequent forensic analysis revealed that the computer contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography. Many of the images had been previously been identified as victimized children by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced Martinez on Jan. 17. He was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison, and must register as a sex offender.

This investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.