A Mexican man has been handed a substantial prison sentence for smuggling child pornography into the United States, the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed Monday. Luis Alberto Hernandez-Venegas, 40, was sentenced to just over eight years in federal lockup after pleading guilty late last year to transporting sexually explicit materials involving minors.
On November 30, 2023, Hernandez-Venegas admitted to the charges, and now, Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has ordered him to quickly serve 97 months behind bars. After his release, he will be under supervised release for five years. Hernandez-Venegas is also required to register as a sex offender and, being a non-U.S. citizen, faces likely removal from the country. During his sentencing, evidence was presented indicating that Hernandez-Venegas was involved in a Telegram chat group used to distribute child pornography and that he was intending to enter into a relationship with a Mexican teenager.
According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Hernandez-Venegas was apprehended on September 26, 2023, when he tried to enter the United States at the Donna Port of Entry in McAllen, Texas. A search of his phone during a secondary inspection revealed the incriminating material. Law enforcement found numerous images, videos, and chat messages on his phone showing child pornography, some depicting prepubescent and pubescent boys.
The convict confessed to communicating with young males aged between 15 and 17 and had a relationship with a 15-year-old boy in Mexico whose photos were found amongst the confiscated content. "He said he knowingly and intentionally possessed, received, and viewed child pornography," according to details of the case released by the Justice Department. Hernandez-Venegas is currently in custody and will subsequently be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, the identification of which will be confirmed later.
Hernandez-Venegas' case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a DOJ initiative launched in 2006 aimed at addressing the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Both the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section spearhead the PSC, working with federal, state, and local resources to crack down on offenders and rescue victims. For more information about PSC and internet safety resources, individuals can visit the DOJ's PSC page.
