A Texas man was recently handed a 15-year sentence for child pornography charges after an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.
Jose Ricardo Zamora-Ibarra, 35, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for obtaining child pornography, according to an Oct. 4 Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release. Zamora-Ibarra, who was residing in Palmview, isn't a U.S. citizen and will face deportation following his imprisonment. In addition to his imprisonment, Zamora-Ibarra will have to pay $15,000 in restitution to known victims and must register as a sex offender.
“Because of the outstanding investigative efforts of HSI and our federal partners, this repeat child sex offender will serve a lengthy federal prison sentence,” Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge, HSI San Antonio, said in the release. “HSI will continue to work tirelessly to identify these dangerous offenders and bring them to justice. Our efforts are vital to protecting our nation’s most vulnerable population from repeat sexual predators who troll the internet looking for additional victims.”
Zamora-Ibarra was a repeat offender and was previously convicted of sexual assault of a child, the release reported. Following punishment for his previous crime, he was deported from the United States, but reportedly re-entered the country without authorization.
Zamora-Ibarra was arrested with cooperation from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to the release. Court records state HSI found the files on Zamora-Ibarra's laptop and an external hard drive.
According to court documents, Zamora-Ibarra admitted to downloading more than 250 files of child pornography utilizing peer-to-peer technology, the release reported. According to a forensic analysis of the data, the films and pictures showed prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit behavior. Zamora-Ibarra created files titled "preteen boy sex" and "preteen girl sex" on his devices to store the child pornography.
