Luis Alberto Alcala, Possessing Child Pornography, Texas 2012

LAREDO, Texas - A Laredoan was sentenced to federal prison for nearly eight years after being convicted of possessing child pornography, the Grimy Times has learned.

Luis Alberto Alcala, 25, pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to view visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen took into consideration the amount of the images, the ages of the victims depicted therein, and the types of child pornographic images and videos that were found on Alcala's computer.

According to court documents, Alcala admitted to downloading images from child pornography sites and viewing pictures and videos of girls under the age of 18 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Several of the images were identified as known victims and indexed in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The case began in June 2008 after a complaint of the theft of a debit/credit card. The card was used to purchase a computer at Wal-Mart along with other items that were not authorized by the owner of the debit/credit card. Further investigation by the Laredo Police Department led to Alcala, who admitted to detectives that he had used the card to purchase the laptop computer that was found at his apartment.

A search of the computer by the Laredo Police Department showed that the computer hard drive contained numerous visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts. HSI agents conducted a forensic exam of the computer's hard drive, which revealed 194 photographic images and 20 movies of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Alcala was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $950,000 to a known victim fund and another $150,000 to an identified victim. He will also be required to serve a term of 30 years of supervised release following completion of his prison sentence.

HSI and the Laredo Police Department investigated the case with the assistance of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roberto F. Ramirez as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/laredoan-sent-prison-possessing-child-pornographyordered-pay-more-1-million-restitution