Laredo professor charged

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas | Press Release

A 36-year-old Laredo resident has been charged with producing videos involving the sexual exploitation of minors, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Carlos Jobany Castaneda Lechuga is expected to appear for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher dos Santos at 10 a.m.

The complaint, filed Dec. 2, alleges authorities learned of videos that appeared to be produced in the United States and distributed on the dark web. The videos allegedly include an adult male seen with what appears to be different minor children in at least three different videos.

The charges allege law enforcement identified the male as Lechuga. He had been a private teacher in Phoenix, Arizona, and a professor in Laredo. The investigation also revealed Lechuga offers private music lessons targeted toward minors, according to the charges.

On Dec. 1, authorities executed a search warrant on Lechuga’s residence in Laredo. The charges allege a person familiar with the house had identified Lechuga’s residence as the location where at least one of the videos was produced.

If convicted, Lechuga faces up to 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography as well as a maximum of 20 years for each count of distributing it. All charges also carry as possible penalty a $250,000 maximum fine.

The FBI conducted the investigation. If you have any information about possible victims or believe you have been victimized, please contact the FBI at 210-225-6741.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tory Sailer and Michael Makens are 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.

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