A 25-year-old South Padre Island man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.
According to authorities, they found 63,975 images and 853 videos of child pornography on devices seized from the residence of Miguel Angel Lopez. They also learned that Lopez had been involved in an online relationship with a young teenage girl, authorities said.
Lopez appeared Thursday before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. who sentenced him to 180 months in federal prison. Lopez was ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution to his victims and will serve 15 years on supervised release following the completion of his prison term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a press release. In addition, he will also have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Lopez will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.
Lopez pleaded guilty to the charges on Oct. 24, 2019.
According to Lopez’s plea agreement, he admitted to having an Asus laptop and an HP computer that contained child pornography. He admitted that he had been downloading and viewing child pornography for the last year.
Lopez also admitted to having an online relationship with a 13-year-old girl he met on Facebook. He said he “persuaded the minor female to produce numerous videos depicting the minor engaging in sexual explicit conduct and that they sent such videos through Facebook messenger.”
He also admitted to sending numerous obscene images of himself to the teenage girl between Feb. 14, 2018 to March 27, 2018.
In January 2018, authorities initiated an investigation into child pornography sharing on the internet. This led them to the address of Lopez in Brownsville.
Law enforcement later executed a search at his residence and seized several electronic and digital devices. Forensic analysis resulted in the discovery of the child pornography images and videos.
Lopez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations – Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation.
