McALLEN, Texas - Julian Gonzalez, 31, of Mission, Texas, has been sentenced to 91 months in prison for receiving child pornography via the Internet, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

At the sentencing hearing today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane took into consideration that Gonzalez has obtained more than 130 videos of child pornography via the Internet. The videos depicted young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and included images of children under the age of 12 years old, some of which are of known victims who have been identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Judge Crane also ordered Gonzalez to pay restitution in the amount of $926,560.09 for one such known victim. Upon release from prison, he will be on supervised release for life during which time he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty on July 29, 2011. At that time, he acknowledged that on March 23, 2011, an Alton Police officer and a Texas Ranger made contact with him regarding an investigation into allegations that he had taken inappropriate videos of a 12-year-old with his cellular phone. Gonzalez provided both his cell phone and his personal computer to the officers consenting to review of the items, at which time the officers discovered videos of child pornography. The officers then contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) to aid in the forensic examination of that computer and a second computer subsequently found belonging to Gonzalez. Gonzalez was arrested the same day. 

Gonzalez was indicted in May 2011. In state custody since his arrest on March 23, 2011, by state officials, Gonzalez was transferred into federal custody on May 11, 2011, where he will remain pending transfer to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case, being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Juan F. Alanis, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.