Houston Republic

A 43-year-old McAllen resident has been sentenced to prison for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Rene Javier Sarmienta pleaded guilty on March 20, 2023.

U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Sarmienta to serve 120 months in federal prison. In delivering the sentence, the court noted it was unfortunate that Sarmienta relapsed and needs therapy. Sarmienta was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of 12 victims and will serve five years on supervised release after his prison term. During that time, he must comply with several requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. The court also referenced his previous conviction for possessing child pornography in 2002 and mentioned that he would be spending another significant portion of his life in prison.

The investigation began when law enforcement discovered that Sarmienta had been purchasing child pornography using a PayPal account. He also failed to report having several social media accounts to local authorities as required due to his status as a sex offender.

A forensic examination of Sarmienta’s cell phone revealed 6,300 images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent minors and sadomasochistic conduct.

Sarmienta will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility yet to be determined.

The FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from the McAllen Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys M. Alexis Garcia and Tyler Foster prosecuted the case, which was part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children sexually while identifying and rescuing victims.

For more information about PSC or internet safety education resources, please visit DOJ's PSC page.