May 15, 2014

Local Man Sentenced for Producing Child Pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—Michael Paul Torres, 34, has been ordered to prison following his conviction of sexual exploitation of a child, more commonly referred to as production of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Torres, of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty February 28, 2014.

Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head sentenced Torres to a total of 16 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by 16 years of supervised release. Additional testimony was provided by the victim and her family describing how this crime has and continues to traumatize them. In determining an appropriate sentence, the court considered the lasting harm done to the victim as well as the need to protect the public from Torres in the future.

On October 28, 2013, a minor female reported that Torres had sexually assaulted her earlier that day. Torres was located and arrested and admitted to sexually assaulting the victim. At the time of his arrest, Torres was in possession of a cell phone which contained pornographic images he had taken of his victim.

Torres will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The case was investigated by the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI.

This case, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney lance Duke, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”