Human smuggling sexual assault felon sentenced to 20 years for possessing child sexual abuse material

McALLEN, Texas - A 44-year-old Lyford man has been ordered to prison for possessing images of sexual assaults of prepubescent children, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

The jury deliberated for approximately 15 minutes before finding Jose Rodriguez Jr. guilty after a one-day trial April 15.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton upwardly departed from the U.S. sentencing guidelines and imposed a 240-month sentence. At the hearing, the court heard additional information detailing Rodriguez's prior conviction of aggravated sexual assault of a child. In handing down the prison term, the court noted Rodriguez's conduct in that case, which involved tying up his nine-year-old victim before attempting to sexually assault her and tying up an eight-year-old witness, was a consideration for an upward departure. The court also heard Rodriguez downloaded child pornography files on 20 separate occasions, beginning only six months after he was released from his 13-year sentence for the aggravated sexual assault of a child conviction. The court noted the need to protect the public from Rodriguez's crimes and highlighted that Rodriguez had a complete lack of remorse for his actions.

Rodriguez was further ordered to pay restitution to known victims and will serve the rest of his life on supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Rodriguez will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

"Those who sexually assault children, possess child sexual abuse material, or smuggle human beings like some sort of commodity, are all imbued with a common trait: total disdain for the inherent value and dignity of a human being. The defendant here had a history of doing all three," said Ganjei. "Fortunately, SDTX prosecutors were successful in advocating for the maximum possible sentence in this case, that of 20 years, so Mr. Rodriguez will now have two decades to reflect on his conduct. I thank the jury for their time and attention in this important case."

Law enforcement originally arrested Rodriguez Aug. 12, 2024, in connection with an alien transportation event. At that time, they seized his phone and discovered over 150 images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

During the trial, the jury heard testimony and evidence regarding the multiple images and videos of CSAM downloaded and stored on Rodriguez's phone over multiple months. The evidence included numerous files depicting the sexual assaults of prepubescent children.

The defense attempted to convince the jury that a virus downloaded the CSAM onto his phone. However, evidence showed that Rodriguez had over 100 user accounts on the phone linked to him and that the CSAM was downloaded on 20 separate occasions from April through August of 2024.

The jury also heard from a computer forensic expert who rendered an opinion that the pattern of activity indicated intentional downloading.

Rodriguez was charged in a separate case for the human smuggling event and later pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and two years of supervised release in that case.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol conducted the investigation with assistance from Raymondville Police Department and Willacy County Sheriff's Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Devin Walker and Jose Garcia prosecuted 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.