A 27-year-old Mexican citizen, Emmanuel Jacobo Reyes, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. The announcement was made by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Reyes pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Terry Means sentenced him to 420 months in federal prison.
Court documents show that Reyes enticed a minor living in North Texas to engage in sexually explicit conduct, produce visual depictions, and send them to him while he resided in North Carolina. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fort Worth Field Office, using information from the North Richland Hills Police Department, reviewed the minor victim’s phone and found screenshots of video chats between Reyes and the victim. Investigators identified Reyes through visible images of his face in the screenshots, confirmed his identity via social media profiles, and determined his location.
The investigation involved FBI offices in Fort Worth and Raleigh, as well as police departments from North Richland Hills and Raleigh. Assistant United States Attorney Allyson Monte prosecuted the case.
This prosecution was part of Operation Restore Justice, a national FBI initiative aimed at identifying and arresting child sex predators. The operation led to the rescue of 115 children and the arrest of 205 offenders across all 55 FBI field offices over five days. Community outreach efforts were noted as important factors in bringing offenders to justice.
The Justice Department brought this case under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 that coordinates federal, state, and local resources to address online child exploitation and abuse. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at www.justice.gov/psc.
The Department also works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which operates a hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST for tips on possible child sexual exploitation.
Authorities encourage anyone with information about suspected child exploitation to contact the FBI through its tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), online at tips.fbi.gov, or by reaching out to their local FBI office.
