Mercedes man sentenced for possession of child porn files

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Mercedes man was sentenced for downloading child sexual abuse material using a peer-to-peer program, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

On July 10, 2024, 41-year-old Armando Jose Flores Jr. pleaded guilty to being a recipient of child pornography.

On Jan 9, 2024, authorities identified a computer making videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) available for download through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, several videos were downloaded and showed prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Authorities discovered, the computer's IP address was registered to an address belonging to Flores in Mercedes.

In February 2024, authorities executed a federal search warrant at his residence and seized four electronic devices. Investigators found each device contained CSAM downloaded between approximately May 1, 2022, and Oct. 31, 2022.

Flores admitted to investigators that he used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on his computer to download and receive material that contained child pornography at his home.

He stated he had been accessing child pornography through peer-to-peer networks for multiple years.

At the hearing, the court learned Flores stored and downloaded 90 GB of CSAM across five devices, which included 4,500 images/videos that contained bondage, bestiality and infants/toddlers.

The U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton sentenced Flores to 10 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to be registered as a sex offender and will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.