A former University of Texas professor has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of five counts of possession of child pornography, officials said.
Mario Villarreal, 54, of Round Rock, also was fined $10,000, according to a news release Wednesday from the Williamson County district attorney’s office. Villarreal was convicted May 1 and sentenced May 2.
His attorney, David Gonzalez, said Wednesday that he had asked for probation for Villarreal. Villarreal didn’t have a previous criminal record and had not absconded, Gonzalez said. He said a therapist also testified during the trial that Villarreal had been in therapy since his 2020 arrest.
The case against Villarreal started when police in Knoxville, Tenn., began investigating a phone sex operator in 2019 for sending and receiving child pornography from several clients, including Villarreal, the release said.
At the time, Villarreal was a managing director at the Salem Center for Policy at UT’s McCombs School of Business. The university released a statement in October 2020 that as soon as officials found out Villarreal had been arrested, he was relieved of all teaching and administrative duties.
Communications between Villarreal and the phone sex operator “indicated that he was sending graphic sexual material depicting very young children,” the release from the DA’s office said.
It said investigators with the Texas attorney general’s office searched Villarreal’s home in September 2020 after getting a search warrant. “A digital forensic examination of devices seized from his home uncovered numerous images and videos constituting child pornography, including material depicting the sexual assault of toddlers and infants,” the release said.
Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said that “evidence presented in this trial revealed disturbing acts involving the most vulnerable members of our society.”
“Possessing and sharing material depicting the horrific abuse of infants and toddlers warrants significant consequences,” he said. “I commend the hard work of our prosecutors, whose collaboration with our law enforcement partners was crucial in bringing Mr. Villarreal to justice. My office will continue to seek justice for both known and unidentified victims of child pornography.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former UT professor sentenced to 12 years in prison for possession of child pornography
Reporting by Claire Osborn, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
