South Texas man pleads guilty to downloading hundreds of child pornography videos and images

MCALLEN, Texas — A south Texas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of receiving child pornography.

This plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jorge Trevino-Blanco, 27, from McAllen, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez who accepted the plea and set sentencing for Dec. 8. At that time, Trevino-Blanco faces a minimum of five and up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine.

According to court documents, Trevino-Blanco came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation beginning Oct. 16, 2015, into persons using the internet to traffic in child pornography. HSI was able to locate and identify a computer on a peer-to-peer network on the Internet that was offering to participate in receiving child pornography movies and images. Through the investigation, it was determined that the computer was located in a residence in McAllen.

On July 8, 2016, authorities executed a federal search warrant at that residence and seized two laptop computers and an external hard drive. A forensic examination on the devices revealed a total of 123 videos and 282 images of child pornography involving clearly young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. These videos and images included children under the age of 12 engaged in sadistic conduct and acts of violence. Some of the videos and images are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Trevino-Blanco admitted he downloaded from the internet the child pornography that was found on his computers and external hard drive. He further admitted he had been doing so for about four years.

Trevino-Blanco has been in custody since his arrest and will remain pending his sentencing hearing.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.