Texas Border Business
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas
McALLEN, Texas – A 27-year-old local man has been sentenced for distribution of child pornography depicting prepubescent minors via a social media messaging application, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Ryant Rodriguez pleaded guilty March 9, 2022.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now sentenced Rodriguez to 132 months in federal prison to be 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.
Rodriguez distributed multiple images and videos depicting child pornography as a member of a social media group chat dedicated to the trade and exchange of child pornography.
The investigation revealed he was also in possession of approximately 963 pornographic images depicting children between the ages of five to 10 on his phone at the time of his arrest.
Rodriguez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cahal P. McColgan prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.
