A man from Santa Ana, California, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. U.S. District Judge John F. Heil, III, handed down the sentence to Alejandro Gomez, 32, who will also face lifetime supervised release and must register as a sex offender.
U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson commented on the case: “Despite living more than a thousand miles away from the victims, the internet allowed Gomez to entice minor boys into sending him nude photos and videos. While we use the internet daily, child predators abuse the internet to gain access to children.”
FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater stated: “I commend the work of the FBI and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in securing justice for the victims in this case, and for ensuring this vile predator faces accountability. Together, we will continue to aggressively pursue those who exploit children for their own sick gratification.”
The investigation began after a tip was received by the FBI from a 15-year-old victim and his parent in June 2024. The minor reported that he had been sharing sexually explicit material with someone he believed was an adult woman online. Court documents show that Gomez used two different social media identities and pretended to be an adult woman interested in minor boys.
Further inquiry revealed that Gomez first targeted a 16-year-old boy before contacting the younger victim. He initiated sexual conversations with them and shared images of an adult woman while pretending it was himself. The minors then sent sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves to Gomez. He persuaded one victim to create a chatroom and invite friends, which enabled him to contact additional minors whom he also enticed into producing explicit content over several months.
Authorities highlighted resources available for reporting suspected child exploitation. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) operates a CyberTipline as a centralized system for such reports across the United States.
Gomez remains in custody pending transfer to federal prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Jiang.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation online by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies (https://www.justice.gov/psc).
