MARFA — Patricio Javier “P.J.” Serrano was sentenced this week by Federal District Court Judge David Counts to serve eight years in prison for possession and transportation of child sex abuse material.
Serrano will serve five years in prison for the transportation charge and 37 months for the possession charge. He was facing up to 20 years for each charge. Judge Counts determined Serrano’s sentence after considering U.S. sentencing guidelines as well as other statutory factors, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office.
“I was pleased that Judge Counts stayed within the recommended sentence,” said Serrano’s defense attorney Shane O’Neal. “On the whole, I thought it was a pretty good outcome for Mr. Serrano.”
When Serrano’s eight-year sentence is up, he will be let out on supervised release for 15 years. The conditions of that release will be detailed in the final judgment, which is not yet publicly available. He will also be required to pay a $100 fine for each charge.
It is not yet clear where Serrano will be serving time. O’Neal said Serrano will now be sent to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which will assign him a facility.
Serrano, a Marfa resident and softball coach at the Big Bend Amateur Softball Association, was arrested in May 2023 after officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered multiple photos and videos depicting child sex abuse material stored on Serrano’s cell phone and in a web browser, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators found that Serrano sent links of child sex abuse material to other individuals via email in 2017 using the application imgbox, according to court documents. Serrano pled guilty to charges of possession and transportation in November 2023.
Around a month after Serrano’s arrest, a previous romantic partner of his, Marfa resident Sonya Murillo, who worked as a property manager and substitute teacher at Marfa ISD, was arrested and charged with child sexual exploitation. At least eight videos of Murillo performing sexual acts on a young child were uncovered by investigators while “conducting a forensic review of a cell phone from a different child pornography investigation in Marfa,” according to the criminal complaint. Serrano and Murillo’s cases have been tried separately.
Murillo pled guilty to production of child sex abuse material in January and is facing up to 30 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Her sentencing date is currently set for April 23.
