An 18-year-old Brownsville man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a count of child pornography.
Authorities said nearly 10,000 images and videos of child pornography were found in his possession.
Federal court documents indicate that in one case Irebenis Mederos Jr. was in communication with an 8-year-old girl from Panama and was having her send him explicit photos of herself via Instagram and Kik.
Kik is an instant messaging mobile app and is used for communicating by chats or direct messaging.
Mederos appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who sentenced him to 168 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by 10 years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution that will be divided equally among the 12 victims, the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas, stated in a press release.
On Sep. 28, 2020, Homeland Security Investigation agents assigned to Panama City, Panama were notified by the girl’s father that she was being sexually exploited over social media. The girl, a U.S. citizen, identified Mederos’ Instagram handle as the person coercing her to send the photos, the court documents state.
Authorities said the investigation led to an IP address in Brownsville belonging to Mederos. Law enforcement conducted a search at his residence and seized his Samsung smartphone. Forensic analysis resulted in the discovery of 1,229 images and 110 videos of child pornography, approximately 55 of which were of the minor female in Panama. Several others also depicted child pornography involving infants and toddlers.
Mederos will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Panama conducted the investigation along with HSI-Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigation Task Force.
