Houston Republic

A 43-year-old Mission resident has been sentenced for coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Juan Carlos Munoz pleaded guilty on March 29.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now sentenced Munoz to serve 168 months in prison, immediately followed by five years of supervised release. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. At the hearing, the court heard how Munoz would not only solicit photos and videos from minor children but would share and exchange those sexually explicit photos with another adult male child predator. In handing down the prison term, the court noted its concern for the safety of school children.

“Munoz is a predator who hid within the walls of a local school and behind fake personas,” said Hamdani. “This sentence should show this family and all families that justice will bring child predators out of the shadows and place them behind bars where they belong.”

“Mr. Munoz abused his position of public trust as a special education teacher to prey on those he was entrusted to protect,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “The sexual exploitation of children is among the most egregious crimes HSI investigates, and today’s sentencing serves as a reminder that our agency will work tirelessly to protect children from coercion and enticement of minors.”

In November 2022, law enforcement in South Carolina met with a family who discovered their 14-year-old girl was communicating with an individual soliciting nude photos and videos. The girl met the individual who claimed to be a 19-year-old teenage boy on a social media/video chat site. Law enforcement uncovered numerous conversations and successfully traced the perpetrator’s phone number to the Rio Grande Valley. They determined his true identity was Munoz, a high school special education teacher.

In December 2022, Texas authorities located Munoz at the school where he was employed. He admitted to communicating with approximately 50 minor children and requesting sexually explicit photos and videos.

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

HSI-Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation with assistance from York County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about PSC or internet safety education, please visit DOJ’s PSC page.