El Paso Man Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment for Receipt of Child Pornography

In El Paso, 54–year-old Victor Jerome Reza was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for receipt and distribution of child pornography announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez, El Paso Division.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Philip R. Martinez ordered that Reza pay a $1,000 fine, be placed on supervised release for a period of ten years after completing his prison term and register as a sex offender.  Judge Martinez also ordered that Reza surrender to federal authorities before July 20, 2015, to begin serving his prison term.

According to court records, the HSI El Paso Cyber Crimes Group executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence on August 5, 2014,  Evidence gathered during that search included the defendant’s laptop and desktop computers as well as an assortment of computer related media.  A subsequent search of the seized material revealed the presence of 277 videos and 2,910 images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors downloaded from the Internet.

On February 26, 2015, Reza pleaded guilty to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

“One of HSI’s highest priorities is to identify, arrest and ensure individuals guilty of such heinous crimes are removed from our community, and away from our children,” said Waldemar Rodriguez, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso. “HSI will use all its resources and ample investigative authorities to target child predators.”

This case was investigated by HSI El Paso and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rifian Newaz.

This case 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 U.S. 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.