A South Padre Island man will appear in federal court today on charges of knowingly possessing and distributing child pornography.
The Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force arrested Robert Andrew Riley, born in 1952, April 12 after a search warrant executed at the man’s home resulted in the seizure of multiple computers that contained child pornography, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Public Affairs Spokeswoman Nine Pruneda confirmed agents arrested Riley and that he is from South Padre Island.
Riley’s address and his exact date of birth are redacted in the federal criminal complaint.
According to that document, on Jan. 18, the task force was conducting an online investigation to locate users distributing child pornography.
Federal law enforcement officials executed the search warrant at Riley’s residence on April 11 and a preliminary examination of the device revealed numerous files with photos and videos of child pornography and during a voluntary interview, Riley allegedly admitted to downloading child pornography, according to authorities.
Riley, who is being held without bond, will make an appearance in federal court at 1:30 p.m. today for a scheduled preliminary examination and detention hearing, court records show.
Valley Morning Star Reporter Raul Garcia contributed to this report.
