US v Gomez-Magdaleno

Paz Gomez-Magdaleno, 42, La Feria, is charged with in a six-count indictment for child exploitation offenses - sexual exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Authorities have been and are continuing to search for some of his alleged victims.

The charges allege that on Jan. 28, law enforcement apprehended Gomez-Magdaleno at a Border Patrol checkpoint transporting undocumented persons in a tractor-trailer. At that time, they seized two phones from him which resulted in the discovery of hundreds of child pornography images and sexually-explicit chat conversations, according to the charges.  

Gomez-Magdaleno allegedly used a variety of usernames on multiple social media platforms such as Snapchat, TextNow and Facebook Messenger under the alias “Nick Gomez” and “Isaac Gomez” to elicit sexually-explicit images and videos from minor females. He is also believed to be known locally as “El Diablo.”

The charges allege five of those Snapchat accounts used the name Nick Gomez with the usernames Isaacgomez6564, leno9646, isaac_g4887, kd_gomez2020 and pazmagdaleno20. In most of the conversations, “Nick Gomez” would allegedly add what appeared to be a minor female on Snapchat and initiate a conversation with her. Gomez-Magdaleno would allegedly often do so by going onto family members’ Snapchats, who were also minors themselves, and would add their friends. 

He would introduce himself as Nick Gomez and would ask the minor females how old they were, according to the charges. Depending on what they said, he allegedly represented himself to be a different age, ranging from 11 to 16. The charges further allege he also represented himself as younger than what he was by using a photograph of what appeared to a minor male for his social media accounts.

He would also allegedly misrepresent to the minor that he was a homeschooled virgin and that an ex-girlfriend had cheated on him. He would request a nude photograph from the minor and would often send sexually explicit photographs of a penis, according to the charges. Many of the female minors sent sexually-explicit photographs of themselves in response.

Authorities believe he talked to hundreds of minor females both nationally and internationally to coerce them into sending him images and videos of themselves engaging in sexually-explicit conduct. 

According to the charges, law enforcement also found CashApp transactions showing that Gomez-Magdaleno would also send money to minor victims in exchange for the images and videos of themselves. 

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Homeland Security Investigations (of the Department of Homeland Security) is conducting the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Smith and Dennis Robinson are prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.

Defendant: 
Paz Gomez-Magdaleno 

Custody Status:
Remanded

Charges:
Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (Production of Child Pornography)
Coercion or Enticement of a Female
Activities Re Material Constituting/Containing Child Pornography

Court Events: 
4/27/2022            Indicted 
6/30/2022            Pre-Trial Conference 
7/11/2022            Jury Trial