Laredo teacher linked to child pornography shared on P2P application indicted

LAREDO, Texas - A 41-year-old Laredo resident has been charged with possession, receipt and distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment June 25 against Roberto Ortiz Jr. He is expected to appear for his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga July 5 at 10:15.

On March 23, law enforcement allegedly received four child pornography files from a Laredo IP address. The indictment alleges it was associated with Ortiz, and he shared them through a peer-2-peer application (P2P).

On June 4, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Ortiz's residence, according to the charges. Ortiz allegedly gave authorities access to his computer and showed them where his downloaded content is saved in his computer. The charges allege they discovered several files containing child pornography, including the four files law enforcement received.

Ortiz is a teacher at a local high school. There is no evidence his activities are linked with his employment at this time.

If convicted, Ortiz faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine A. Cortez is prosecuting 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 tab on that page.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.