A pedophile is facing 35 years in federal prison for using the internet to target a North Texas minor for child pornography.
Emmanuel Jacobo Reyes, a 27-year-old Mexican national, was sentenced on November 25 to 35 years in federal prison for one count of producing child porn and one count of receiving child porn, according to a release from the Department of Justice. Reyes lived in North Carolina at the time, and his victim lived in North Texas.
“The defendant admitted that he enticed a minor victim living in the North Texas area to engage in sexually explicit conduct, produce visual depictions of such conduct, and transmit the depictions to Reyes,” the release reads, citing court documents.
The North Richland Hills Police Department provided information to the FBI in Fort Worth. Agents reviewed content from the minor victim’s phone, including screenshots of video chats between Reyes and the victim.
“As Reyes’s face was visible in some of the screenshots, agents were able to find his social media profile, confirm his identity, and determine his location,” the release reads.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Allyson Monte prosecuted the case, according to the release. Reyes pleaded guilty in July 2025, and U.S. District Judge Terry Means handed down his sentence.
The case was part of the FBI’s national mission “Operation Restore Justice,” aiming to find, track, and arrest child sex predators, according to the release. In total, the five-day operation led agents to rescue 115 children and arrest 205 child sex offenders.
“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi at the time.
FBI Fort Worth and FBI Raleigh investigated this case, with assistance from Richland Hills Police and Raleigh Police.
“In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice,” the release reads.
The DOJ also works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which collects and shares information about abuse through its website and 24/7 hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
The FBI urged members of the public to stay vigilant and report suspected child exploitation to their local FBI office, the agency’s internet tip line, or to 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Earlier in November, the Texas Department of Public Safety raised the reward to $4,000 for convicted child sex offender and Cuban illegal alien Ismael Arias, as The Dallas Express reported at the time. He allegedly failed to comply with sex offender requirements in Harris County.
Also, earlier this month, Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted three child sex abuse suspects at the Texas-Mexico border in the span of a week, as The Dallas Express reported. The month before, officials announced child sex offenders in Denton and Collin counties had been sentenced to prison.