McALLEN — A previously convicted gang member faces federal child porn charges after he allegedly sent explicit photos to a minor, records show.
On Tuesday, a court remanded Lee Roy Huerta Guerrero into federal custody pending a detention hearing Friday after a brief initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis. The court also made a motion to have a federal public defender assigned to Huerta.
According to the criminal complaint filed on behalf of the U.S. government Monday, Huerta sent sexually explicit photos to and solicited a picture from a child, according to information gathered by federal agents.
On Jan. 15, the mother of a child referred to in the complaint as “MF-1,” reported an incident to the FBI McAllen office regarding photos sent to MF-1 via a social media website, specifically, Facebook Messenger, from a profile under the name “Lee Roy Huerta.”
The mother advised federal agents the minor is 11 years old, and the two of them had lived at Huerta’s residence for about three weeks in November, the complaint stated.
Subsequently, the mother gave federal agents permission to access the social media profile of the child.
A review of the account showed that the child received messages from Huerta from Nov. 16, 2019, to Dec. 11, 2019, the record stated.
“Beginning on December 10, 2019, Huerta began discussing sending pictures to MF-1,” the complaint stated.
The complaint goes on to state that Huerta is a known convicted gang member with prior convictions for kidnapping and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to Hidalgo County criminal court records, Huerta, after pleading guilty, was convicted on these charges in June 2015 and sentenced to a four-year state prison term, with credit for 179 days jail time.
The 28-year-old Pharr man is due back in court Jan. 24 for a detention hearing, where his attorney will make the case for a bond release.
