A 56-year-old New Braunfels man was arrested Tuesday on child pornography charges that could send him to prison for 20 years.
Marcos Gomez, a resident of New Braunfels, was arrested by New Braunfels police and investigators with the Texas Attorney General’s Cyber Crimes Unit at about 10:30 a.m.
Police detective Lt. Mike Rust acknowledged the arrest after it was posted on the log at the Comal County Jail. Gomez was taken into custody without incident at his workplace.
“The attorney general’s office contacted us on a case they’ve been working on,” Rust said. “They showed up this morning, briefed, got an arrest warrant and we executed it.”
The detective did not comment further.
Gomez was booked into jail on a charge of promotion of child pornography. If proved, the allegation is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
No bail had been set Tuesday afternoon.
Tom Kelly, press secretary for Attorney General Greg Abbott, said no press release had been prepared as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Documents on file with the Comal County District Clerk showed 274th Judicial District Judge Gary Steel issued a warrant for the arrest of Gomez early Tuesday based on an affidavit prepared by Sgt. Steven Reid, an investigator with the AG’s Cyber Crimes Unit.
In the arrest affidavit, Reid reported Jan. 9, 2004, he logged on to the Internet and a Web site where he downloaded file sharing software and searched for images and digital movies containing child pornography.
He downloaded a file that showed an adult male and a minor child engaged in a sex act, Reid alleged.
As he searched further, Reid downloaded 42 files, he wrote.
“I have viewed each of the files and each appear to be files that visually depicts a child who is engaging in sexual conduct,” Reid wrote.
Reid obtained a warrant and tracked the Internet address to a home in New Braunfels.
Feb. 20, Reid and other officers obtained a warrant from County Court-at-Law 2 Judge Charles Stephens and searched the residence.
They seized a computer, a digital camera, 106 compact discs and other property.
On June 28, a report of a search of the seized computer alleged that 648 images and 24 videos of child pornography were found on the computer’s hard drive.
All, Reid alleged, depicted children engaged in sexual conduct.
