SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography by sexually abusing a 16-month infant girl.
This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John F. Bash, Western District of Texas. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with HSI Vancouver, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Tommy Ray Garcia, 23, from San Antonio, was sentenced April 11 by U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra to 360 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. On Jan. 2, 2019, Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography.
“Words escape me. The crime here was unimaginably horrific. I am grateful that Judge Ezra sentenced Garcia to the maximum allowed by law. The sexual abuse of children is a problem that our country is not doing nearly enough about. We need to wake up,” said U.S. Attorney Bash.
“The heavy sentence imposed on Mr. Garcia sends a clear message that there are serious consequences for those who sexually exploit children,” said Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, HSI San Antonio. “Targeting crimes of this nature is a high priority for HSI. We will continue to dedicate HSI resources worldwide to identify these individuals and bring them to justice.”
According to court documents, Garcia admitted that on multiple occasions in 2016, he chose a 16-month-old female who was unable to communicate her trauma, and sexually assaulted her while recording the abuse on videos and pictures. Those videos and images were discovered after he distributed them on a social media application. During the execution of a search warrant at Garcia’s residence on Jan. 31, 2018, Garcia admitted to authorities that he produced the videos and images of child pornography. He was arrested following his admission and has since remained in federal custody.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson, Western District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.
This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 19,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2018, more than 3,000 (3,191) child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 850 (859) victims identified or rescued.
