Leobel Fuentes-Piedras, Child Pornography, Texas 2014

GRIMY TIMES EXCLUSIVE – LAREDO, Texas – A Mexican national has been sentenced to prison for possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

Leobel Fuentes-Piedras, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, pleaded guilty on December 11, 2014, to possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison, followed by a 15-year term of supervised release. Fuentes-Piedras will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The arrest was a result of Operation Child Guardian, launched by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office in 2009. In May 2014, the Texas Attorney General’s Office received information from Facebook that possible child pornography was being uploaded to a Facebook account. The IP address was verified, and law enforcement executed a search warrant at the identified location, seizing computer devices and interviewing Fuentes-Piedras.

During the investigation, Fuentes-Piedras admitted to uploading child pornography through his computer and iPhone to Facebook accounts so he could access them from anywhere. Forensics analysis identified 54 shared files consistent with child pornography.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Coker as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Fuentes-Piedras will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The Homeland Security Investigations and the Webb County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.

The success of these investigations has put dozens of suspected child predators behind bars. This case is a testament to the ongoing efforts of law enforcement agencies to protect children from exploitation and abuse.

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