Pharr man sentenced to 7 years in federal prison after downloading 470 images of child porn

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Pharr man is sentenced to federal prison for downloading child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

Vincent Andrew Gutierrez, 32, pleaded guilty on Oct. 22, 2021.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, authorities investigated from December 2017 to December 2019 on a peer-to-peer sharing platform called BitTorrent.

Investigators discovered a device, connected to Gutierrez's IP address, downloading child pornography.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for his residence, where they seized a laptop as evidence. The laptop revealed a BitTorrent file Gutirrez owned with child pornography, the release stated.

Investigators found Gutierrez had 412 images and four videos of child pornography.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Gutierrez to serve seven years in federal prison, pay $3,000 in restitution and serve five years on supervised release following his prison term.

Additionally, he is required to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.

A U.S. District Judge also ordered Gutierrez to re-register as a sex offender.

Gutierrez remains in custody and is pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.