In San Antonio today, a federal judge sentenced 24-year-old Paul Martinez to 12 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography, announced United States Attorney John F. Bash and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
Senior United States District Judge David A. Ezra also ordered that Martinez pay $5,000 restitution to any identified victim and be placed under supervised release for a period of five years after completing his prison term.
Martinez pleaded guilty to the charge in October of last year. By pleading guilty, Martinez admitted he exchanged child pornography using the Internet in January 2016.
In September 2016, federal authorities executed a search warrant at the location where Martinez was residing and seized his desktop and laptop computers as well as his cellular telephone. A forensic examination of the computers and phone revealed numerous video and image files depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The FBI investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
