La Vernia Man Sentenced to 25 Years in Federal Prison for Child Pornography

SAN ANTONIO – A La Vernia man was sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio to 300 months in prison after being found guilty by a jury of four counts of receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents, Jacob Wayne Peek, 44, was arrested by the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office in October 2021 for charges related to aggravated sexual assault of a child. At the time of his arrest, Peek’s cell phone and an associated SIM card were collected as evidence and originally reviewed pursuant to a state search warrant. Through the forensic image review of the phone, investigators found a large amount of child sexual abuse material and contacted FBI San Antonio for investigative assistance.

In January 2022, a federal search warrant was obtained and executed for the devices collected from Peek. Within one folder, approximately 16,000 image files were located, 793 of which were determined to be child sexual abuse material. Peek was transferred to federal custody March 7, 2022 and was convicted on all four counts in a jury trial, August 2022.

“Peek possessed a shocking number of images of children enduring sexual abuse,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza. “By receiving and viewing the images he compounded the harm inflicted on those children by the predators who perpetrated and recorded the dreadful acts against them. I am grateful that the court imposed a 25-year sentence of imprisonment for these unconscionable offenses.”

“Thanks to a young victim who had the courage to report abuse to trusted adults – and the subsequent actions of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office – Jacob Peek will no longer be able to victimize children and will spend years in prison,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for the FBI San Antonio Field Office. “We want to thank our partners at the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case and their continued partnership in keeping our communities safe from child predators.”

The FBI and Wilson County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracy Thompson and Bettina Richardson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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