GALVESTON, Texas — A registered sex offender from Southeast Texas convicted of sexually assaulting a minor two decades ago was sentenced to 30 years in prison Jan. 14 for transporting and possessing child sexual abuse materials.
The investigation that led to the conviction was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston’s Galveston office, with assistance from the Pearland Police Department, the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office.
David Lopez Jr., a 46-year-old resident of Alvin, Texas, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 360 months each for the transportation of child pornography and the possession of child pornography, to run concurrently for a total sentence of 30 years in federal prison. Lopez was furthered ordered to pay restitution to the victims and will be on supervised release for the rest of his life following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to the internet.
Lopez pleaded guilty to the charges June 27, 2024. In arriving at the sentence, the court took into consideration the fact that Lopez had prior convictions for sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child in 2006 and was already a registered sex offender at the time of his new offenses. The court also considered the impact on his victims.
“With today’s sentencing we have removed a dangerous predator from the community who has shown absolutely no remorse for his heinous actions two decades ago when he sexually assaulted a young child and destroyed an innocent life,” said HSI Houston Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “Instead, while registered as a sex offender, he has actively engaged in trafficking the sexual abuse materials that force child victims to relive their worst nightmare in perpetuity. HSI Houston is committed to continuing to aggressively pursue anyone who preys on the vulnerability of our children and will not rest until we have eradicated southeast Texas of this pure form of evil.”
Lopez came to the attention of law enforcement in 2016 after they received an alert indicating that he was using social media to distribute files depicting child sexual abuse materials. A subsequent investigation revealed that Lopez used multiple sites to upload child sexual abuse materials to his accounts between Feb. 19, 2016, and Jan. 14, 2020.
Authorities arrested Lopez in February 2020 for failure to comply with his sex offender registration. At that time, he admitted to viewing child pornography. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on his phone and found 100 images and 60 videos of young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos depicted babies and toddlers and acts of violence such as the penetration of the victims, bestiality, bondage, and sadistic and masochistic conduct.
After serving his sentence for failure to comply with his sex offender registration and possession of a controlled substance, Lopez began transporting, distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography. In October 2022, Lopez was arrested and admitted to trading and viewing child pornography.
Lopez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Ann Leo prosecuted the case.
For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to investigate child exploitation in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIHouston.