Chinese national sent to prison for possessing child pornography videos of minor younger than five

McALLEN, Texas – A 46-year-old Chinese national has been sentenced for transporting child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Tong Sun pleaded guilty Dec. 20, 2023.

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton has now sentenced him to 144 months in federal prison. Sun was further ordered to pay $35,000 in special assessments and will serve five years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet and will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. Not a U.S. citizen, Sun is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

On or about May 8, 2023, Sun attempted to illegally enter the country in an area near Roma. Law enforcement took him into custody, at which time they discovered several videos that constituted child pornography on his phone.

One of the videos depicted a child who appeared to be younger than five years of age.

Sun admitted to ownership of the phone and to possessing the child pornography.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cahal P. McColgan 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. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources link on that page.