DEL RIO, Texas - An Eagle Pass man pleaded guilty in a federal court in Del Rio to producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) agents reviewed more than 1,000 Cash App transactions from July 4, 2023, through Dec. 21, 2023, associated with Gerardo Sanchez Jr. aka Jerry Sanchez, 30, who was employed at the time by GEO Secure Services LLC. The peer-to-peer transactions ranged in payments between $1 and $11,000 each. Many consisted of funds sent from Sanchez to more than 30 minor sponsored accounts with comments attached to the payments such as, "why did you block me?" and "I love you." Further investigation led to Sanchez's Facebook account, where agents located several images and videos of CSAM.

The investigation revealed that Sanchez had been communicating with high school-aged minor females across social media platforms and requested sexually explicit videos of the minors in exchange for money. In at least one instance, Sanchez delivered flowers to one of the victims at her school. That victim estimated that she received over $1,000 from Sanchez for sending him the requested videos and photos of herself via Snapchat.

Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography. He faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

ICE HSI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nallely Duarte is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

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