Houston Republic

A 21-year-old man from Edinburg, Texas, has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography. Lazaro Segundo-Vazquez admitted guilt on May 15, 2023, after authorities discovered he had received over 1,800 images and video files of child sexual abuse material.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane imposed the sentence and ordered Segundo-Vazquez to pay $3,000 in restitution to three victims. Following his prison term, he will be subject to a decade of supervised release with strict conditions limiting his access to children and the internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The case began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted authorities about potential uploads of child pornography from an Edinburg residence to a Google account. Investigations revealed that Segundo-Vazquez had received these materials through a third-party messaging app on his phone and subsequently uploaded some images to a Google account.

Segundo-Vazquez confessed that the materials included videos and images involving prepubescent children and toddlers engaged in sexual acts with adults and other minors.

He remains in custody while awaiting transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

The investigation was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations - Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cahal P. McColgan prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood (PSC), an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide.