Raul Casarez, Production and Receipt of Child Pornography, Texas 2010

A 20-year sentence was handed down to Raul Casarez, 35, of Weslaco, Texas, for his convictions on one count of production of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. The conviction came after Casarez pleaded guilty on September 21, 2010.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson and Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – San Antonio announced the conviction, which was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Casarez will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release after serving his 20-year sentence. The court also ordered a total of $9,500 in restitution for all of the identified victims in the case. Additionally, Casarez will be ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

A previous hearing in the case revealed that Casarez had a familial relationship with the victims involved in the child pornography production. The testimony established that Casarez sexually exploited four young relatives who considered him to be the ‘fun’ relative. The exploitation occurred over several years, dating back to the mid-90s and up until the date of his arrest in 2009.

The investigation began in 2009 when an agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) started an Internet investigation to identify persons using peer-to-peer software to traffic in child pornography. The agent discovered a specific computer offering to participate in the distribution of child pornography movies. Casarez was identified as the person linked to the computer.

Agents executed a search warrant of Casarez’s residence and seized computers and various external storage media. The forensic examination of the items revealed more than 4,000 child pornographic images and more than 400 child pornographic movies of clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images include children under the age of 12, bondage, and acts of violence, some of which were of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Casarez admitted to downloading child pornography from the Internet and being in possession of child pornography on his computer. The forensic examination also revealed three photographs or visual depictions of a young pre-pubescent girl stored on the computer’s hard drive. The photographs depicted her in a pose considered to be sexually explicit conduct. The pictures were taken by a Samsung cell phone and uploaded to Casarez’s computer.

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