Lubbock Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — Jimmy Edward Villa, 41, of Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced this morning by Senior U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 15 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Villa has been in federal custody since his arrest in September 2015.

According to documents filed in his case, in late July 2015, Villa used his cell phone to record a video, which he took through a hole in a bathroom ceiling, of a minor female taking a shower and then drying off.  Villa subsequently made single-frame screen captures of the video that depicted sexually explicit photos of the minor female.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lubbock Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, was in charge of the prosecution.

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