Judge Orders Nearly $20k in Restitution

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - David Hernandez, 29, of Corpus Christi, Texas, has been sentenced to 210 months in prison following his conviction for production of child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Hernandez pleaded guilty March 1, 2012.

Today, Senior United States District Judge Hayden Head handed him the 17 ½ year sentence and further ordered he serve the rest of his life on supervised release following completion of that prison term. At the sentencing hearing, additional evidence was presented, including the fact that Hernandez had victimized the child over several years. Judge Head also ordered he pay restitution in the amount of $10,000 to the victim and $9,886 to the father of the victim of the child pornography which Hernandez produced.

The case was initiated on March 12, 2011, when a concerned citizen reported a sexual assault in progress at the Los Encinos Elementary School in Corpus Christi. When officers with CCPD arrived at the location, they observed Hernandez sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy. When police approached Hernandez, he covered himself and attempted to walk away. Hernandez was arrested and found to be possession of a cell phone, which was turned over to CCPS’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). A subsequent search of that cell phone led to the discovery of several videos depicting Hernandez sexually assaulting the boy. Further forensic analysis revealed that the videos contained therein were made on the phone by Hernandez between December 2010 and March 2011.

Hernandez has been in custody since his arrest where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.

The case was investigated by CCPD-ICAC and immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations.

Both cases, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lance Duke, were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."