West Texas Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing Minors in Mexico

EL PASO, TX – An El Paso man was sentenced in federal court to 240 months in prison for transporting a visual depiction involving the sexual exploitation of a minor across the international border.

According to court documents, on January 10, Enrique Ruvalcaba-Mendez, 71, was referred to secondary inspection at the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers discovered that his phone contained several videos and photos of Ruvalcaba engaged in sexual activity with minor females.

The investigation revealed Ruvalcaba would travel to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where he would pay to have sex with minors. He would videotape himself with the minors and save them on his phone. Ruvalcaba was found to have abused at least three minors in Mexico.

Ruvalcaba pleaded guilty on July 3 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Briones on Sept. 24.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations and CBP investigated the case with assistance from the HSI Assistant Attaché Office in Ciudad Juarez.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Romero 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.