Local felon convicted of sexual exploitation of pregnant minor

LAREDO, Texas - A 30-year-old Laredo man has pleaded guilty to production of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

On April 5, law enforcement encountered Luis Andres Serna after he picked up an undocumented non-citizen from downtown Laredo and transported him to an apartment building. At that time, a 16-year-old pregnant minor was also his passenger.

Later that day, authorities discovered 37 undocumented people and approximately 1,032 kilograms of marijuana within several apartments linked to Serna and others. This eventually led to his arrest for drug trafficking and conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented individuals.

While in federal custody for the pending charges, he gained access to a tablet video system and contacted the same pregnant girl. The investigation revealed Serna provided the minor's name and a phone number to initiate video calls but did not disclose she was a minor.

The facility's communication system automatically records the displays of both parties during every video call. Law enforcement reviewed several hundred telephone calls and tablet video visits Serna initiated while detained.

The investigation revealed he was in regular video communication with the minor victim.

On June 24, 2022, he had her perform sexual acts while he watched. The minor victim used her personal cellphone to record herself performing the acts and played the video for Serna over the course of several days.

"Protecting our children from sexual predators is one of my office's most sacred responsibilities," said Hamdani. "Serna is an especially reprehensible predator--a human smuggler and drug trafficker who exploited a pregnant child for his own sexual gratification adding the label "child pornographer" to his resume of crimes. This prosecution and conviction will help insure that Serna can no longer victimize Laredo's citizens, especially its children."

Serna also later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport over 1000 kilograms of marijuana and the human transportation conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña accepted the plea and will impose sentencing at a later date. At that time, Serna faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine for the sexual exploitation conviction as well as a maximum of 10 years and up to life, respectively, for the alien smuggling and drug trafficking charges.

Serna has been and will remain in custody pending sentencing.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, Border Patrol and other private companies.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Homero Ramirez and Michael Makens are prosecuting the case along with the assistance from Special AUSA Terence A. Check Jr. and former AUSA April Ayers-Perez, 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.