Texas Man Indicted for Producing Child Pornography

A 40-year-old Texas man who used to live in St. Paul Park was charged today in federal court in Minneapolis with producing pornographic images of four girls on 17 occasions over a three-year period. Jose Antonio Soto is charged with 17 counts of production of child pornography.

The federal indictment filed against Soto alleges that between March of 2004 and February of 2007, he coerced four girls into engaging in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. The videotapes were purportedly made at Soto’s St. Paul Park residence. Soto is currently incarcerated in Texas, serving a 10-year term for possession of child pornography.

If convicted on the federal charges, Soto faces a potential maximum penalty of 50 years in prison on each count. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Cyber Crimes Task Force, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service, the San Antonio Police Department (Texas), and the St. Paul Park Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to combating the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department’s Project Safe Childhood website at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.