FORMER
U.S. ARMY FIRST LIEUTENANT SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR PRODUCING AND
DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
United
States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that in El Paso this afternoon,
27-year-old Gary Alan Hernandez, Jr., a former First Lieutenant with the
204th Military Intelligence at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas, was sentenced
to 236 months years in federal prison for producing and possessing child
pornography.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge Philip Martinez
ordered that Hernandez pay a $1,000 fine and be placed under supervised
release for a period of ten years after completing his prison term.
On December 6, 2006, Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of production
and one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation
of children. By pleading guilty, Hernandez admitted that on April 16,
2005, he enticed a minor female to engage in sexually explicit conduct
for the purpose of photographing such activity and distributing the photographs
via the Internet.
This undercover investigation began in February 2005, when the defendant
was looking for someone online to coordinate distribution and sales of
sexually explicit photographs of minors he produced. On August 3, 2005,
agents with the El Paso division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence. Agents seized
several computers, computer media, three cellular phones and several digital
and film cameras. A forensic review discovered more than 600 photographic
images and one video of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct located
on the defendant’s computers.
“Those who sexually exploit and prey on our children are pure evil. The
scars that they leave on the spirits of our kids seldom go away,” stated
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton.
This case was investigated by the El Paso Division of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William F. Lewis, Jr.,
and Laura Franco Gregory prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood–a nationwide initiative designed
to protect children from online sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by
the U.S. Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue
victims.
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