A La Porte man, identified as 40-year-old Enrique "Ricky" Vela, is now facing a slate of charges related to child sexual abuse and pornography after a police investigation into content found on his mobile phones, according to local reports. Click2Houston detailed how the La Porte Police Department's discovery of incriminating video files led to Vela's arrest yesterday, following an unrelated February 26 detention over an aggravated robbery charge and a later possession charge in March.
During an initial police inquiry tied to the robbery, Vela permitted a forensic search of his cell phone, which unearthed videos of child pornography, prompting a more extensive search under warrant of his two phones, during this search investigators found evidence revealing several videos showing Vela sexually abusing local underage male children, with the victims ranging in age from 13 to 16 years old. Following the grim findings, the Harris County District Attorney's Human Trafficking and Crimes against Children's Bureau was roped in, and multiple felony charges laid against the La Porte man.
The legal consequences Vela now faces are substantial, He was charged with "eight first degree felony charges, including one count of continuous aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, three counts of sexual performance by a child, and three counts of possession/promotion or production of child pornography," as documented in the report from Click2Houston. Combined, these charges potentially amount to a sentence extending beyond 85 years.
Further details provided by KHOU indicate that Assistant Chief Bennie Boles of the La Porte Police Department stated, "Investigators found video files saved on that device which depicted child pornography," cementing the basis for Vela's charges, with a requested bond set at $1 million, law enforcement officials also signaled that additional charges may be forthcoming, as the investigation persists and unfolds.
