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A 43-year-old repeat sexual offender from McAllen has been sentenced to a decade in prison for possessing more than 6,000 images of child sexual abuse material.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the sentence for Rene Javier Sarmienta, who pleaded guilty on March 20, 2023, in a news release Tuesday.
The investigation began after authorities found Sarmienta had been buying child sexual abuse material using a PayPal account.
“He also failed to report having several social media accounts to local authorities as required due to (his) status as a sex offender,” the release stated.
Investigators later found 6,300 images of the material on his cellphone, including images of prepubescent minors and sadomasochistic conduct, according to the release.
In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Sarmienta to pay $3,000 in restitution to his 12 victims.
“The court also noted his previous conviction of possessing child pornography in 2002 and that he would be spending another significant amount of his life in prison,” the release stated.
He was sentenced to a little less than two years in prison in that case.
Following the completion of his prison term, Sarmienta will serve five years supervised release with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.
