Corpus Christi resident sentenced to prison for possession of child pornography

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — A Corpus Christi resident was sentenced to 19 years in prison for possession of child pornography, according to United States Attorney, Alamdar Hamdani.

Omar Diego Lyra pleaded guilty on July 27 and received a 19-year sentence from U.S. District Judge David Morales.

“At the hearing, the court heard how Lyra engaged in distribution of images and videos with others. In handing down the prison term, the court noted the seriousness of the offense, and that Lyra provided images and videos to others,” stated officials in a press release.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, Lyra was also ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to the victims. He will also serve 20 years on supervised release following his prison sentence and will be ordered to register as a sex offender.

The investigation began in June 2022, when authorities found images of child pornography on an online platform associated with an email address that belonged to Lyra.

“Law enforcement, then executed a search warrant of Lyra’s residence, and found images and videos, depicting sexual exploitation of minors present on electronic devices in his possession,” stated officials.

Lyra has been in custody and will remain behind bars pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case with the assistance of the Victoria Police Department and Corpus Christ PD.

“Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Overman prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page [justice.gov]. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link [justice.gov] on that page.”