FRESNO -  A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today, charging Thomas Henry Lopez, 49, of Spring, Texas, with two counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of distribution of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of transfer of obscene material to a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between June 2024 and July 2024, Lopez contacted two minors in California through TikTok and then communicated with them through text messages and the encrypted application JusTalk. Lopez purported to be a 12-year-old male from Texas and requested that the victims create and then send to him still and video images of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

While communicating with the victims, Lopez sent them images of adults and minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, as well as images of himself masturbating. Investigators were able to identify Lopez by determining that he was using internet connections at his residence and at his Houston workplace, where he was the principal wells engineer for an oil and gas company when communicating with the victims.

FBI agents arrested Lopez on Sept. 3, 2024, just as he was leaving on a work-related trip to Singapore, and numerous electronic devices were recovered during a search of his residence. He will appear before a federal magistrate judge in Houston, Texas, on Sept. 13, 2024.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, principally the Kingsburg, California Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Lopez faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for the counts of sexual exploitation of children, and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for distribution of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. If convicted of the transfer of obscene material to a minor count, Lopez faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider many variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.