United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas

10/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/18/2024 11:01

Man Sentenced to 60 Years After Sexually Assaulting Toddlers, Hiding Videos Inside Fake Calculator App

Press Release

Man Sentenced to 60 Years After Sexually Assaulting Toddlers, Hiding Videos Inside Fake Calculator App

Friday, October 18, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas

A 25-year-old man who hid photos of himself raping preschool-aged children inside what appeared to be a calculator app on his phone has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Humberto Barreto, Jr., was indicted in January and pleaded guilty in June to two counts of production of child pornography. He was sentenced last Thursday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix to 30 years per count to run consecutively for a total of 60 years and ordered to register as a sex offender.

"This lengthy sentence is proof that this defendant's deviant behavior of victimizing and sexually exploiting children will not stand, "said Travis Pickard, Special Agent in Charge HSI Dallas. "Due to the collaboration between HSI and our law enforcement partners of the Howard County Sheriff's Office, Mr. Barreto will spend the next 60 years of his life behind prison walls, where he can no longer prey upon our society's most vulnerable population."

According to court documents, the investigation began when Mr. Barreto's ex-girlfriend alerted police that she saw internet searches for child pornography on his phone. She told officers that when she confronted him, Mr. Barreto admitted to using cryptocurrency to purchase child sexual abuse imagery and said "age did not matter" to him.

Forensic examiners searched the phone and found hundreds of photos and at least 30 videos of adult men sexually abusing children, including toddlers. They also found a storage application disguised as a calculator, where Mr. Barreto hid videos of him sexually assaulting 4- and 5- year old girls.

"I mean, I can't deny it," he said, when confronted by officers. "I did what I did."

"My baby girl, she seems to have been more withdrawn and sensitive… she's had nightmares," the mother of a victim said in a statement read into the record at sentencing. "Those acts he did are of a monster, and I believe he is one in the truest form."

Homeland Security Investigation's Dallas Field Office and the Howard County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Big Spring Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Tusing prosecuted the case.

Contact

Erin Dooley
Press Officer
214-659-8707
[email protected]

Updated October 18, 2024
Topic
Project Safe Childhood