A 34-year-old Houston man was arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Richard Reyes Trigo for sexual exploitation of children as well as distribution and possession of child pornography. He is expected to make an appearance on the indictment in the near future.
U.S. Attorney’s Office said he was originally charged following accusations he actively engaged in the sexual exploitation of a minor female under the age of 2. He was taken into federal custody July 15 and made his initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate, at which time he was ordered detained pending further criminal proceedings.
The charges allege Trigo engaged in conversations via a social media forum where individuals who have a sexual interest in children allegedly frequent.
Trigo saw a post that contained terms commonly associated with the sexual exploitation of children and responded, according to the charges. During the course of the chats, Trigo allegedly claimed he was sexually active with a minor female and claimed he performed sexual acts on her.
Trigo later sent four sexually explicit images he claimed were of the minor, according to the charges.
If convicted of producing child pornography, Trigo faces a minimum of 15 and up to 30 years in federal prison, while the distribution and possession charges carry additional penalties up to 20 and 10 years, respectively.
Each charge also carries a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
