SAN ANTONIO – Today a San Antonio man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for child pornography charges.
According to court documents, on November 11, 2018, Francisco Govea Tristan III, 24, using a social media platform, started a chat conversation with a minor in another state. Tristan then coerced the minor into sending him photos and videos showing the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. When confronted by law enforcement, Tristan admitted he asked the minor to produce and send him pornographic images and videos. He also admitted he had other child pornography on his mobile phone.
On July 20, 2021, Tristan pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He has been in federal custody since his arrest on July 19, 2019.
“The defendant was a child predator who inflicted significant damage on his victims, which is reflected in his sentence,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. “These types of crimes leave a wake of destruction and brokenness for both the child victims and their families. This office is committed to ensuring that this defendant and others like him are removed from society and further damaging others.”
“Those who harm children in this way may hide behind a computer or smartphone and use the internet to commit these crimes, but that does not mean that they are anonymous and can use those tools to produce child sexual abuse material,” said FBI San Antonio Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. “Anytime a person uses the internet to entice a minor to produce child pornography, the FBI will use all its resources to identify and prosecute those offenders.”
The FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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