Source: United States Department of Justice News
EL PASO, Texas– An El Paso man was sentenced in federal court here Thursday to 160 months in prison for receipt and distribution of a visual depiction involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to court documents, Javier Alejandro Parada, 36, used a fake social media account to share nearly 35 files containing Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) in a group chat between Dec. 31, 2020, and Jan. 2, 2021. After locating Parada’s residence investigators identified additional online accounts on which he kept files containing CSEM, some of which had been sent to him from other contacts.
“We remain committed to prosecuting these types of heinous offenses against children and will always follow up on any leads of child sexual abuse,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “Just as important as the result of this case, Parada’s arrest led to the arrest of another child predator in Las Cruces and the rescue of that defendant’s victim. Our partners did an amazing job throughout this investigation.”
“Predators contemplating to exploit children should heed this Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigation and the sentence handed down,” said Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola of HSI El Paso. “HSI and our law enforcement partners continue to work tirelessly to protect our greatest asset—our children—and focus on arresting and prosecuting those who seek to victimize them.”
HSI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Valenzuela prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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.justice.gov/psc.
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