Former Kmart toy department employee sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of child porn

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A man who managed the toy department in a local Kmart was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after federal agents caught him with child pornography.

Jaime Hinojosa, 41, of San Juan worked at Kmart for 14 years and had a reputation for being “really good” with kids.

In 2018, federal agents caught Hinojosa with a collection of child pornography, including images that showed infants and toddlers being sexually assaulted.

“I’m dealing with a great deal of shame, pain — and I don’t know what else to say except: ‘Sorry,” Hinojosa said Thursday morning, when he appeared in court for sentencing.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Hinojosa to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay $18,000 in restitution to six people who survived sexual assault.

“This is a terrible crime,” Crane said. “It’s the consumption of child pornography that fuels the creation of child pornography.”

The case started in 2017, when the Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigation Task Force attempted to identify people sharing child pornography on peer-to-peer networks. During the investigation, agents discovered an internet protocol address in San Juan that had shared child pornography.

Agents linked the internet protocol address to a home on the 400 block of Guayavitos Lane — less than 100 yards from Amanda Garza-Peña Elementary School.

When they searched the home in May 2018, agents seized a desktop computer, a laptop and several hard drives.

The computers and hard drives contained more than 600 images and more than 2,100 videos, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Andrade said in April 2019, when Hinojosa pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography.

“These movies and images include children under the age of 12, bondage and acts of violence,” Andrade said.

Hinojosa confessed to downloading the child pornography.

“Based on the investigation and the agents interviewing Mr. Hinojosa, we know that he has been involved with this type of activity for about — I guess, since he was 15 years old,” Andrade said in June 2018, when Hinojosa appeared in court for a bond hearing. “And then collecting this type of pornography since he was 24.”

At the time, Hinojosa worked for Kmart. Andrade didn’t specify which store Hinojosa worked at.

“He was in charge of the toy department,” Andrade said. “The manager did state that he was really good with kids.”

Agents questioned Hinojosa about his job at Kmart.

“The agents asked him, because he did work at the toy department in Kmart: Well, have you ever had these thoughts about the children that you see? You see children at the toy store. And he stated that he had,” Andrade said.

After he pleaded guilty, the case stalled. Hinojosa remained on house arrest for more than five years.

In 2022, he asked U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker for permission to leave his house and look for a job. According to his attorney, Hinojosa wanted to sell tools at the local flea market.

Prosecutors opposed the request.

Hinojosa faced a serious prison sentence, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Devin V. Walker, who handled the hearing.

During a polygraph, Hinojosa also confessed to “sexual contact” with two relatives, Walker said. Both of the relatives were children when the sexual contact occurred.

Hinojosa remained on house arrest until Thursday, when he returned to court for sentencing.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Abel Guerrero, who represented Hinojosa, said his client had a very difficult childhood.

Hinojosa experienced violence at home and bullying at school, Guerrero said.

While in elementary school, Hinojosa attempted to kill himself by running into traffic, Guerrero said. A school employee stopped him.

“He went through a lot, your honor,” Guerrero said.

Hinojosa also suffers from a long list of medical problems, including depression, seizures, asthma and bronchitis.

“He takes about 10 medications, your honor, on a daily basis,” Guerrero said.

Kmart fired Hinojosa after his arrest. He never worked again.

As part of the investigation, federal agents identified the children who appeared in the images and videos Hinojosa downloaded. Statements from the survivors were filed with the court.

“I just want to say that I’m sorry,” Hinojosa said.

U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines recommended that Hinojosa spend 151 to 188 months in prison, based on the number of images he possessed and other factors.

In light of the five years Hinojosa had already spent on house arrest, Crane settled on a sentence of 120 months — 10 years — in federal prison.