Former El Paso Teacher Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Child Pornography Charge

EL PASO, Texas – A Horizon City man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 46 months in prison for access with intent to view a visual depiction involving the sexual exploitation of a prepubescent minor.

According to court documents, Orlando Solis, 47, began communicating over the social messaging platform “Whisper,” with a user who identified herself as a 13-year old female. The Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit initiated the investigation and referred the matter to the FBI. The conversations were often sexual in nature, with Solis sending links to pornography sites, describing sexual acts he wanted to engage in with her, and sending graphic photos of himself. He also informed her that he had a “hidden” folder on his phone for pornography.

The FBI determined that Solis was a high school teacher and arrested him on Feb. 2. A forensic examination of his cellphone revealed child sexual abuse material depicting minors as young as five or six years old. Solis pleaded guilty July 25.

“Protecting children from sexual predators will always be a priority of this office and our partners across the district,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Thanks to the joint investigative efforts of the FBI and Army CID, Solis will no longer pose a threat nor further harm innocent children. Please also take this as a reminder to talk to your children about the legitimate risks of online chat rooms and social messaging apps.”

"The FBI El Paso’s Child Exploitation & Human Trafficking Task Force's mission is to protect our nation's children from adults willing to meet and engage children online with the purpose of engaging in Child Exploitation," said Special Agent in Charge John Morales for the FBI El Paso Field Office. "To that end, we've accomplished the mission by ensuring Solis won't be able to commit a hands-on sexual assault of a child. Please join the FBI’s never-ending effort to keep our children safe by reporting instances of known, or suspected child exploitation at tips.fbi.gov or call 800-CALL-FBI."

“Army CID has a strong relationship with the FBI and continually works together to maximize our jurisdiction and investigate all crimes in and around U.S. Army installations” said Special Agent in Charge Olga Morales for the Army CID Southwest Field Office. “Our Army communities, and the American public, can rest assured that we continually seek out child predators and anyone that would want to do harm to members of our communities, on and off our installations.”

The FBI and Army CID investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Valenzuela prosecuted 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 www.justice.gov/psc.

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