Federal Jury Convicts Del Rio Man In Child Porn Case

In Del Rio, 39-year-old Ruben A. Vazquez, a teacher at Calderon Elementary in the San Felipe Independent School District, faces a minimum of five years in federal prison after a jury convicted him this afternoon of child pornography charges, announced United States Attorney Robert Pitman and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala.

The jury convicted Vazquez of one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of access with the intent to view child pornography.  Evidence presented during trial revealed that Vazquez was using peer to peer file sharing programs to access, receive and distribute videos of child pornography.  Law enforcement officers testified that Vazquez admitted to them that he had over 1,000 images and over 100 videos of child pornography. 

On June 21, 2012, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence and seized several computers and related equipment.  According to court records, a forensics evaluation of the seized items revealed the presence of child pornography videos that depict minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct along with evidence of child pornography files that had previously resided on the computer. 

Vazquez faces between five and 20 years in federal prison on each receipt and distribution count; and, up to ten years in federal prison on the access count.  Vazquez remains in federal custody pending sentencing scheduled for January 16, 2014, before United States District Judge Alia Moses.

This case was investigated by HSI agents together with the investigators from the Beaumont Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorneys Meghan McCalla and Ralph Paradiso are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.