Lubbock, Texas — Kevin Ismael Lopez, 25, is headed to federal prison for 327 months after admitting to producing child pornography involving two prepubescent girls as they slept in his home. The sentence, handed down March 9, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, marks the end of a grim case rooted in betrayal and exploitation.
Lopez pleaded guilty in November 2017 to two counts of production of child pornography. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in August 2017, when investigators closed in after uncovering digital evidence tied to his crimes. The charges stem from two separate incidents captured on video using cellular phones.
On December 14, 2016, Lopez used his mother’s cellphone to record himself engaging in sexual conduct with a sleeping minor girl at his residence in Lubbock. Less than six weeks later, on January 24, 2017, he repeated the crime—this time with another prepubescent female victim—again using a cellphone to document the abuse. He also created an additional sexually explicit video of the second child.
Not only did Lopez record the assaults, but he moved the digital evidence across state lines by uploading one of the videos to his Dropbox account—a calculated act that triggered federal jurisdiction. The cloud storage account was used to archive numerous illicit images and videos, authorities said, showing a pattern of behavior that extended beyond isolated incidents.
The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, the Department of Justice’s nationwide push to combat child sexual exploitation. Spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas, the initiative combines federal, state, and local efforts to track down predators, dismantle networks, and rescue victims before more harm is done.
Investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag handled the prosecution. Lopez will serve 20 years of supervised release following his prison term, during which he will be monitored for compliance with strict federal conditions.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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