A San Antonio man was sentenced to twelve years in prison for one count of promotion of child pornography, a second degree felony.
John Alan Fuentes, 37, was arrested on June 3, 2020, after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that a Tumblr user uploaded child sexual abuse material to another user through the microblogging platform. Fuentes, who lived with family members, including young children, confessed to downloading and sharing child sexual abuse materials with users he met online. In chats recovered from Tumblr, Fuentes was seen discussing sexual abuse of children, though investigators found no evidence of a hands-on offense; Fuentes claimed to investigators that he was simply telling other users “what they wanted to hear.” Fuentes’ e-mail account, phone number, and IP address all linked him to the sharing of the contraband material.
“While many may think child sexual abuse materials are shared on the dark web, people like this defendant use online platforms often used for legal activities. That they openly share these horrible images shows how little regard for the law they have and should serve as a reminder to parents to monitor their children’s online activities. Our children are safer with people like this off our streets,” said Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales.
This case was prosecuted by Christian Neumann, Assistant District Attorney in the Public Integrity & Cyber Crime Division in the 399th Judicial District Court, Judge Frank Castro presiding. It was investigated by the Child Exploitation Unit of the Texas Attorney General’s Office Southern Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce.