A 35-year-old Corpus Christi man, Valentine Cancino, has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material involving a minor relative. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Cancino pleaded guilty on February 20. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos delivered the sentence of 324 months in prison. During the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that Cancino was engaged in sexual abuse as authorities arrived to serve a search warrant at his residence. The court cited the severity of the facts and circumstances as justification for the length of the sentence.
After serving his prison term, Cancino will be under supervised release for ten years with restrictions on contact with children and internet use. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Restitution is expected to be determined later.
The case began when law enforcement received several cyber-tips about child sexual abuse material being uploaded online. Investigators traced the content back to Cancino. On January 30, 2024, authorities executed a search warrant at his home and seized two electronic devices, including a Samsung Galaxy cell phone containing video evidence of Cancino’s crimes.
Cancino remains in custody and will be transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
“There is hardly a sentence available that can fully account for the depravity of the defendant’s conduct, but the 27-year sentence he received here will have to do,” said Ganjei. “The Southern District is working tirelessly to identify and apprehend predators like Mr. Cancino before they can exploit others.”
“Despite overseeing criminal investigations for thousands of child exploitation-related cases in my 30-year career, they never get easier, but Homeland Security Investigations’ efforts to expose these heinous predators and prevent them from harming any more innocent children have expanded greatly since I first started,” said HSI - Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “It’s thanks to those partnerships with fellow law enforcement agencies like the Corpus Christi Police Department and groups like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that we are able to quickly identify dangerous predators like Mr. Cancino who are hiding in plain sight in the local community and hold them accountable.”
The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD). Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Overman prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating resources across federal, state, and local agencies. More information about PSC can be found on DOJ’s PSC page. Resources about internet safety education are also available through this page.
