Corpus Christi Teacher Sentenced For Possessing Child Pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Jesus Orta, an English as a Second Language teacher in Corpus Christi, has been ordered to prison for 110 months, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Orta, 41, was convicted of possessing child pornography following his guilty plea Nov. 13, 2012.

Today, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack imposed the sentence and expressed the need to protect the public from Orta and to recognize the harm he inflicted upon the victims whose images he possessed. Judge Jack further ordered Orta to serve a lifetime of supervised release following completion of the prison term, noting his crime and his troubling history of employment which placed himself around children. Orta was previously employed as a high school teacher and worked at Mental Health and Mental Retardation State School and La Raza Runaway shelter.

Orta, was arrested by the Corpus Christi Police Department’s (CCPD) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force following the discovery of child pornography during a routine domestic disturbance call in Corpus Christi. CCPD officers responded to a complaint made by Orta against his brother for criminal trespassing. During the investigation of the trespassing case, the brother notified police that Orta was in possession of child pornography. Orta denied the accusations and refused officers consent to search his home for contraband. After the officers left the home to write up the criminal trespass warnings, Orta was observed discarding items of child pornography in a community dumpster on the housing complex grounds. Officers were able to gain entry into the home and several electronic media storage devices were discovered that contained child pornography in addition to the material removed from the dumpster. A subsequent computer forensic analysis was completed on the seized items and numerous images and videos were discovered. Orta was arrested and admitted to possessing the child pornography discovered in his home and the dumptser.                 

The case was jointly investigated by CCPD and Homeland Security Investigations.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lance Duke, was 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."