A 21-year-old Brownsville man will spend the next 16 years in federal prison for production of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced Thursday.
Marcos Daniel Gomez pleaded guilty Oct. 27, 2021, according to a document from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
At a hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera Jr. sentenced Gomez to serve 192 months in federal prison after the court heard additional information in the case, including a statement from the victim’s mother detailing the pain and overwhelming sadness brought about by Gomez’s abuse, the document stated.
Gomez will serve 30 years on supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender, the U.S Attorney’s office in Brownsville said in a news release.
According to the release, from June 1 to June 20, 2020 Gomez solicited a 4-year-old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which he recorded with his cell phone.
Gomez has been and 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana C. Cano is prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims.
