Juan Antonio Villarreal, Child Pornography, Texas 2013

Former Houston Teacher Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography

A former third-grade teacher at a Houston elementary school has been ordered to federal prison for 20 years following his convictions of distribution and possession of child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced that 53-year-old Juan Antonio Villarreal pleaded guilty to the charges on February 19, 2013. At the time, he acknowledged that he had been a third-grade teacher at a Houston elementary school.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore handed Villarreal a sentence of 120 and 240 months for the possession and distribution convictions, respectively. The terms will run concurrently for a total 20-year federal prison term.

During the hearing, the court heard evidence demonstrating how Villarreal tricked an underage female relative into taking nude photographs of herself and sending them to him, which he then circulated over the Internet. Judge Gilmore remarked that the photos can never be removed from the Internet.

Villarreal will also serve 10 years of supervised release following the completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

The investigation began after a local law enforcement officer downloaded child pornography over the Internet, which they traced to a computer Villarreal used. On August 31, 2012, federal authorities executed a federal search warrant at Villarreal’s residence in Houston.

At that time, they discovered several images and videos of child pornography on a thumb drive inserted into a USB port on a Dell Desktop computer located within the residence. One of the videos included a known minor child victim performing oral sex on an adult male.

They also found child pornography on a Dell desktop computer and five additional thumb drives in the residence. A forensic exam on the devices resulted in the discovery of approximately 1425 images and 277 videos of child pornography.

Villarreal had admitted that he had received, viewed, and downloaded child pornography for approximately five years. He has been in custody since his arrest on August 31, 2012, where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Stabe prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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