Federal investigators on Wednesday arrested a McAllen man who they accuse of accessing child pornography and posting on forums dedicated to the abusive material.
Alberto Marin Jr. appeared before a federal magistrate judge Thursday morning on a charge of knowingly accessing with intent to view child pornography. He is being temporarily held without bond pending detention and probable cause hearings scheduled for next week, records show.
The investigation that led to Marin’s arrest began in June 2019, when Homeland Security Investigations-led Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigations Task Force discovered a computer server hosting a website that published images and videos of young children in sexually explicit conduct.
“The website was dedicated to the advertisement and distribution of child pornography and that the discussion of matters pertinent to the sexual abuse of children,” the criminal complaint states.
While the website operated — it has since been seized — the adminsitrator posted a message describing its purpose as being to “share cp of babies and toddlers,” referring to child pornography.
Federal investigators learned an IP address accessed the website on April 22, 2019, and after a summons was returned by Charter Communications, that led authorities to a McAllen address — and to Marin.
On Wednesday, the task force conducted a search warrant at the address and arrested Marin, who they say confessed to downloading child pornography.
“Marin told investigators that he would download the videos and delete them after viewing,” the criminal complaint states.
The charging document says Marin told the federal agents that he started viewing the material at the age of 19 and accessed child pornography a few times a week, including as recently as a day or two ago.
The complaint notes Marin was born in 1993.
Agents accessed his computer accounts and discovered multiple child pornography websites and also noted that he posted on forums related to child pornography, according to the complaint.
