Gresham man charged for child porn to change plea

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man accused of distributing child pornography is set to change his plea in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

The trial for Pablo Alberto Vazquez had been scheduled to start Tuesday before Judge Michael H. Simon, but earlier this month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Vazquez and his defense attorney reached a plea deal.

In October 2015, a federal grand jury handed up an indictment against Vazquez that accused him of distribution of child porn, receiving child porn and possession of child porn.

The investigation began in January 2015 when an FBI special agent in Portland was working undercover to investigate distribution of child porn on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Records show that the FBI has an “enhanced law enforcement version” of the publicly available program.

“The enhanced software is designed to download file from a single source, rather than downloading parts of files from multiple sources at the same time,” according to an affidavit prepared by the FBI.

The FBI was able to identify an IP address that was “a potential download candidate for at least 92 files of investigative interest,” which is a file that has previously been identified as depicting child porn or has been linked to keyword or other searches associated with child pornography or child sexual abuse materials.

On three separate dates in January 2015, the FBI downloaded 17 video files directly from the IP address under investigation that was discovered on the peer-to-peer file sharing network. Agents determined that 16 of the files contained “visual depictions of child pornography.”

FBI agents were able to determine that the IP address was registered with Comcast to an address in Gresham off of Southeast Stark Street. In September 2015, the FBI executed a search warrant at the apartment where the IP address was registered. No one was home but during their search, FBI agents found 19 items including computers, cellphones, a digital data storage devices.

Agents did a cursory search of a computer that was found inside the apartment. They determined the presence of the peer-to-peer file sharing program on the computer and that the IP address initially identified by the FBI in January had been used to share child pornography videos.

“…agents found a piece of paper with handwritten titles that included well-known child pornography terms,” according to records.

Vazquez was found at his place of employment in North Portland.

He was interviewed by the FBI and told them that he had been living at the apartment the FBI searched for more than three years. He said his internet provider was Comcast and that his wireless network was password protected. He also told FBI agents that he does watch child porn. He tried to minimize his behavior by saying he watched the videos to learn about child porn and then “warns his three adult daughters about how badly men can behave.”

“[Vazquez] acknowledged he might be addicted to child porn,” according to an FBI affidavit. He also admitted knowing that it was illegal to watch child porn and said he was warned by his family that he may get into trouble.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not said what kind of plea agreement has been reached between Vazquez and his criminal defense attorney.

The plea is currently scheduled for September 21.