March 27, 2025 – A Mexican national, illegally in the United States, was ordered detained by a Federal Magistrate Judge on Tuesday after he was arrested last week on a criminal complaint related to his alleged possession of child pornography.
According to court documents, Adolfo Raul Vasquez-Santana, 32, of Southaven downloaded and shared videos that depicted the sexual abuse of children, some of whom appear to be younger than 13 years of age. Vasquez-Santana is charged with the receipt or distribution of those images using the internet. If convicted of these charges, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Vasquez-Santana was investigated initially by the Southaven Police Department responding to a tip that they received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He had been arrested and charged by the Southaven Police Department, but prior to his prosecution for these offenses in state court, he was released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal from the United States. The Department of Homeland Security charged the defendant with the federal offenses at issue in the complaint.
U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner of the Northern District of Mississippi made the announcement. Joyner said, “The Department of Justice will fully prosecute any alien that violates the laws of our great country. Possession of child sexual abuse images leads to further abuse of the most vulnerable members of our society: our children. The DOJ will do everything in our power to protect them and to that end, I appreciate the Southaven Police Department for their thorough investigation of this matter.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Addison is prosecuting the case.
