A 52-year-old Tracy, California, man who sent child pornography to a member of the Chattanooga Crimes Against Children Task Force in February 2019 has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to 10 years in prison.
Matthew John Jurado was sentenced Friday to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, according to a federal news release.
As part of a plea agreement, Jurado pleaded guilty to a charged of "causing another person to possess child pornography," according to the release. Jurado is a registered sex offender with a prior conviction for child pornography, officials said.
Federal authorities said that Jurado in February 2019 "distributed numerous images of child pornography throughout the world from a coffee shop located in Tracy, California." Jurado's "activities and identity were discovered by a member of the Chattanooga Crimes Against Children Task Force" when the illicit material was sent to him.
Task Force members arrested a second person "who had traveled to Chattanooga with the intent to engage in sex with a minor," authorities said.
That person's cell phone was seized and images of child pornography were found that had been sent by Jurado, officials said. The second individual was not identified by officials.
"Information sharing among local and federal agencies across the country can bring dangerous criminals to justice," U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey said in the release. "Every child deserves to grow up without the fear, humiliation, and trauma of being the victim of sexual exploitation. The U.S. Attorney office will continue to aggressively pursue the predators in this world who seek to abuse the most innocent among us."
FBI special agent in-charge Joe Carrico echoed Overbey's sentiments.
"Those who prey on children, whether they live in Tennessee or around the world, will be found, will be investigated and will be prosecuted," Carrico said.
Federal officials said the criminal indictment and plea agreement were the result of an ongoing investigation by the task force in Chattanooga, which consists of agents from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department and the Chattanooga Police Department.