Texas man sentenced to 108 months for trading in child pornography

DALLAS — A suburban Dallas man, who came to the attention of Canadian authorities during an investigation into the distribution of child pornography, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to nine years in prison for trading in child pornography.

This sentenced resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Christopher Briseno, 45, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison on one count of pandering of child pornography. Briseno previously pleaded guilty in May 2014.

According to court records, in January 2014 an individual, later identified as Briseno, contacted an undercover officer with the Toronto (Canada) Police Service who was acting in a covert capacity online to identify individuals distributing child pornography. Briseno indicated he was sexually abusing his two minor daughters, age 11 and 16, and he sent the undercover officer two images of his "daughters" depicting the sexual abuse.

When it was learned that Briseno lived in Texas, the investigative lead was sent to HSI's Dallas office. On Feb. 4, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Briseno's residence.

Court records indicate Briseno admitted he does not have children of his own, and that he created a fictitious online profile and used photos of children he knew to be minors as the victims of his sexual abuse scenario. The children, whom he said were his daughters, were actually the children of acquaintances.

He also admitted to stealing pictures posted on social media websites of three minor children and using them during chats about incest. He further admitted to searching the Internet for sexually explicit images of young females and sending those photos, in conjunction with the clothed photos of the minor females he claimed were his daughters, as proof of his involvement in the sexual abuse of minors.

Briseno also admitted to chatting with an individual in Canada, (the undercover officer) who was the mother of two minor children, and instructing her to sexually abuse her 2-year-old daughter. He also said he sent photos of the two minor girls to this individual, as well as a sexually explicit photo of a young girl, telling this person that it was his 11-year-old daughter.

Briseno's prison term will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole from federal prison.

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 10,000 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 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

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. 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.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.