Sonya Conchita Murillo, Child Pornography, Texas 2023

EX-TEACHER SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

ALPINE, Texas – A former substitute teacher in Marfa has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography, a federal judge ruled.

Sonya Conchita Murillo, 33, was found to have possessed child sexual abuse materials, including videos depicting Murillo sexually abusing a prepubescent child, court documents revealed.

According to the documents, investigators discovered the disturbing content, which led to Murillo’s arrest on June 7, 2023. She pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in January.

Murillo’s former boyfriend, Patricio Javier Serrano, was sentenced in March to 97 months in prison for one count of possession of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography, aiding and abetting. Serrano had been charged in a separate indictment and pleaded guilty on October 27, 2023.

‘The fact that the judge delivered the maximum allowed 30-year imprisonment to this defendant for producing child pornography, is indicative of the utterly horrendous predatory acts Murillo committed,’ said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.

‘Children trust their teachers and caretakers and Murillo betrayed that trust,’ said Special Agent in Charge John Morales for FBI El Paso. ‘No child should ever have to question the motives of an adult they interact with at school or at home.’

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Marfa Police Department investigated the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Greenbaum and Kevin Cayton prosecuted it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

‘Today we are once again reminded of the need for constant vigilance—online and in our schools—to protect the most vulnerable among us,’ said Acting Special Agent in Charge Eric McLoughlin for HSI El Paso.

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