A federal court in Del Rio, Texas, on Wednesday sentenced an Ecuadorean citizen to 84 months in prison and five years of supervised release for possession of child sexual abuse material. The 27-year-old immigrant from Cuenca Provincia, Azuay, Ecuador was sentenced after a mass trial in July 2021 where the court found him guilty of possession of a large collection of pornographic images involving child sexual abuse.
According to court documents, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested Ramiro Helipuerto Cuenca-Campos near Brackettville, Texas, during a failed migrant smuggling attempt. At the time of his arrest, Border Police officers discovered explicit photos of children on his cell phone. A subsequent forensic analysis of his cell phone revealed more than 2,000 images containing child sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors charged Cuenca in federal court for possession of the material. On July 27, 2021, US District Chief Judge Alia Moses found Cuenca Campos guilty after a bench trial. The Ecuadorean immigrant has remained in federal detention since his arrest on March 10, 2020. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Cuenca Campos ordered $18,000 in restitution to the victims and $200 in private evaluations. The Chief Justice also ordered Moses to confiscate his phone.
“This defendant traveled from Ecuador and crossed the border into our country with a satisfactory amount of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “Fortunately, our federal law enforcement partners at the border disrupted the people smuggling operation and ran their routine, searching this person and his phone when they took him into custody. This case is reinforced by the fact that, like our policies against drugs and firearms, non-citizens occasionally attempt to bring into the states United States, we will not tolerate anyone bringing material that sexually exploits and harms children.”
“Individuals who receive and possess child pornography engage in the victimization of children whose innocence can never be restored,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee told ICE’s San Antonio Homeland Security Investigations Division. “These criminals also represent a threat to the public safety of our communities. For these reasons, child exploitation cases are a top priority for HSI, and we will continue to work closely with our federal partners to ensure that they are apprehended, prosecuted, and ultimately removed from the United States.”
HSI and USBP are investigating the case, which was brought in as part of the Safe Childhood Project — a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse that the Department of Justice launched in May 2006, the officials said. The statement continued, Led by the US Attorney’s Offices and CEOS, the Safe Childhood Project mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, as well as identify and rescue victims.
Randy Clark He is a 32-year-old veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to retiring, he served as Chief of Law Enforcement Operations, managing operations for nine Border Patrol stations within the Del Rio Strip, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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