A Del Rio, Texas, man received a 78-month prison sentence for his crimes involving child pornography, federal officials said. Leeroy Hinojosa, 35, was convicted of using Snapchat to obtain sexually explicit material from minors, a despicable scheme that landed him behind bars and a $35,000 special assessment fee for the receipt of child pornography.
Hinojosa's reprehensible actions surfaced when he targeted two underage victims through the app, coaxing them into sending 129 images and 106 videos, which were identified as child pornography by authorities. The predator was apprehended on December 17, 2020, and has been in custody since, according to documents from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
In a statement from the office, U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza highlighted the community's role in the predator's apprehension, saying, "Without help from members of the community who said something when they saw something, the authorities would not have been able to investigate and prosecute this offender who repeatedly sought nude photos and videos of underage girls." as per U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas press release. Esparza stressed the need to protect vulnerable children and praised the collaboration between local, state, and federal partners in ensuring Hinojosa's confinement.
“Homeland Security Investigations agents make it a top priority to work with all of our local law enforcement partners to investigate predators involved with the receipt of child pornography,” Craig Larrabee, Special Agent in Charge for the HSI San Antonio Division, told the U.S. Attorney's Office. He added that millions of children are victimized by sexual predators annually, and it is crucial to safeguard them and hold perpetrators accountable.
The case against Hinojosa was an effort among multiple agencies, including HSI, Customs and Border Protection, the Del Rio Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Pavlinski was the prosecutor for the case. This sentencing comes as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative aimed at combating child exploitation and abuse on the internet.
