Teacher Who Made Child Porn To Be Sentenced Today
The former public school dance teacher and performer in Viva! El Paso is scheduled to be sentenced on child pornography charges Thursday afternoon.
Marco Alferez pleaded guilty in August 2011 to sexual exploitation of children and distribution of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. According to the government’s sentencing brief, prosecutors are seeking 30 years in prison for the first charge and 20 years for the second charge and for them to be served consecutively. They’re also asking for a lifetime of supervised release.
Federal agents searched Alferez’s home in September 2010. According to court documents, agents found on Alferez’s computer 98 “commercially available” child porn videos and 157 hidden camera and self-produced videos where children were undressing or having sex with Alferez. Agents also found 121 video tapes in his home containing child pornography.
Court documents state investigators were able to identify the images on the tapes as being recorded at Le Baron Park Elementary School, Austin High School, Camino Real Middle School, Scotsdale Elementary School and Irvin High School. Alferez held positions at those schools over the span of six years, from 2003 to 2009. There were other locations found on the homemade recordings, including Coronado High School, various El Paso high school graduation ceremonies, Viva! El Paso and Disneyland.
Federal authorities identified a total of 393 victims in the videos. Court papers indicate the crimes beginning as early as 2001 when Alferez videotaped himself having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Some of those victims are expected to be in the federal courtroom of Judge Kathleen Cardone on Thursday afternoon for Alferez’s sentencing. The court documents detail statements submitted by some of the victims.
“He made me feel like I had no value, like as if the whole world would look at me weird,” wrote one victim, then 13, only identified by her initials, S.G. “He affected me a lot on my way of being. I have become quiet, timid and I have no trust in no one because I feel they will do the same.”
“This crime has affected my family in an extremely negative manner, especially my daughter, the victim,” wrote the mother of another victim. “I can’t sleep at night, waking up with visions of Mr. Alferez, thoughts of what he did to my daughter.
“I have feelings of guilt, thinking, how could I have trusted this man with my daughter,” the statement continued. “I am supposed to protect my children from harm … on the contrary, I allowed her to work with this man. … My daughter will forever be haunted by Mr. Alferez’s actions. Her self-esteem tarnished forever, her lack of trust with men and her own feelings of guilt for trusting Mr. Alferez.”
In the court document, federal prosecutors describe Alferez as someone similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, due to his two personalities. Prosecutors say it was the trust and admiration he gained as a performer and teacher that allowed him unfettered access to the children who became his victims.
Alferez is scheduled to be in court for sentencing at 2 p.m. Thursday.
