U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Protecting national security by enforcing our nation's customs and immigration laws
Report suspicious activity 1-866-DHS-2-ICE
Quick Links
News Releases
October 5, 2007
San Antonio resident sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for purchasing child porn
SAN ANTONIO - A local resident was sentenced in U.S. District Court here Friday to more than seven years imprisonment for purchasing child pornography. This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Carlos Curiel, 29, of 7671 Claridge Drive in San Antonio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery to 90-months in prison, to be followed by 20-years supervised release; he was also ordered to register as a sex offender with the San Antonio Police Department. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Curiel voluntarily turned himself in to ICE May 4 after he learned of the outstanding arrest warrant against him for possessing child pornography.
ICE agents executed a search warrant at Curiel's residence on Sept. 21, 2006 when they came across information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding Curiel's purchase and subscription to a child pornography website. ICE agents seized three Curiel's computer hard drives, a Sony Play Station Portable computer game, documents, 8mm film and CDs. ICE performed computer forensic analysis of the seized items which revealed more than 2,700 sexually explicit images of child pornography.
"This case demonstrates the disturbing truth that some adults will go to great lengths to sexually exploit children," said Jerry Robinette, special agent-in-charge of ICE's office of investigations in San Antonio. "We hope that this significant prison sentence will help to discourage anyone from distributing, receiving or possessing child pornography. We will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute anyone involved in sexually exploiting children. Due to the horrific nature of the offense, ICE petitions the court for significant prison sentences against the offenders."
Curiel is set to begin serving his sentence Jan. 15.
This case is part of Operation Predator, ICE's comprehensive national initiative to safeguard children from pedophiles, international sex tourists, Internet child pornographers, and human traffickers. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 10,000 individuals nationwide, including more than 960 in Texas.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
-- ICE --
