A Houston man was sentenced on Apr. 27 to more than 27 years in federal prison for coercion and enticement of a minor, as well as receipt of child pornography, according to Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Victor Zuniga, age 27, pleaded guilty earlier this year. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ordered Zuniga to serve concurrent sentences totaling 324 months in prison after hearing evidence that he spent over a year trying to arrange an in-person meeting for the sexual abuse of a toddler.
After his release from prison, Zuniga will be under supervised release for the rest of his life with strict limitations on internet access. The investigation began after four videos provided by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation were reviewed in December 2023. Between January 2022 and November 2023, authorities said Zuniga exchanged messages about sexual acts with minors and received multiple images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.
A forensic review found a lengthy screen recording on Zuniga’s phone showing live video feeds involving children aged two to ten being sexually abused. He remains in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
The case was investigated by FBI - Houston and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Valenti and Kimberly Leo as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 targeting child exploitation crimes nationwide.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas has included notable figures such as Alamdar Hamdani and Ryan Patrick among its former leaders according to the official history page. The office operates locations in Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville as described on the official website. It is part of the Department of Justice under the Attorney General according to its official website, employs more than 200 attorneys covering over nine million people across 43 counties as detailed online, focuses on prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil cases for the government according to its website, and has had leaders including Alamdar Hamdani who served from 2022 through 2025 as noted on its history page.
