Man sentenced to 35 years for production of child pornography

Corpus Christi, Texas: Project Safe Childhood posted a statement from the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Texas on Friday, May 28 announcing the sentencing of 53-year-old Santos Gonzalez on a charge of conspiring to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce child pornography.

According to the release Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charge on March 2, 2021.

Gonzalez has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. After release he will be required to register as a sexual offender and required to submit to supervised release for the remainder of his life. The terms of his supervision consist of "numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet."

Most cases that are announced on the Department of Justice website appear in local media as well, at least at the time of the initial arrest. A search for not only Gonzalez, but also his co-defendant Diane Martinez returned no results outside of another small outlet that had reproduced the statement from May 28.

According to the DOJ, Gonzalez had been speaking with Martinez between January 21, 2016 and May 20, 2020 via Facebook.

In those "thousands of pages of communication" Gonzalez "expressed wanting to have sexual intercourse with the minor victim." It is not clear if the child was related to Martinez or one that she had access to.

In exchange for Martinez sending "illicit photographs of the minor" Gonzalez "would offer food, groceries, gifts and other items of monetary value."

Eventually Gonzalez stopped using Martinez as an intermediary and communicated directly with the child.

A family friend is credited with providing information about the abuse to investigators. The allegations were corroborated by information found on a tablet where the communications took place.

Martinez will be sentenced on July 28 before the same judge, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton.