A soccer coach of Mexican origin was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting minors, recording the abuse and possessing fraudulent immigration and identity documents in Tennessee.

Camilo Campos-Hurtado, 66, of Franklin, received the sentence on July 2, 2026. Once the sentence is served, he must remain under supervised release for five years, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Campos-Hurtado had pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025 to four counts of sexual exploitation of minors, one for receiving child sexual abuse material, another for using or possessing fraudulent immigration documents and one more for having an identity document stolen or produced without legal authorization.

The Prosecutor's Office had requested a sentence of 50 years due to the seriousness of the crimes, the temporal extension of the abuses and the risk posed by the accused. The federal judge finally established a sentence of 360 months, equivalent to 30 years in prison.

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A forgotten phone allowed the abuses to be discovered

The investigation began in June 2023, when a person found a cell phone that Campos-Hurtado had left behind in a Franklin business establishment.

Upon searching the device, he found sexually explicit videos and immediately alerted the Franklin Police Department. The complaint led to an investigation that uncovered several years of child sexual exploitation.

Homeland Security Investigations agents, known as HSI, and local police executed search warrants at the defendant's home and vehicle. There they recovered electronic devices with child sexual abuse material and numerous falsified immigration and identity documents.

He drugged or got the victims drunk

Investigators determined that Campos-Hurtado used drugs or alcohol to incapacitate minors before sexually abusing them and recording the attacks.

The crimes for which he was convicted occurred between 2017 and 2021, a period during which he worked as a football coach. However, forensic analysis of its devices revealed that it had been producing child sexual abuse material since at least January 2013.

The authorities indicated that he took advantage of his position as a coach to approach the minors and gain their trust.

The investigation was led by HSI, the Franklin Police Department and the United States Marshals Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Monica R. Morrison and Kathryn D. Risinger.

You could be expelled from the United States

The Prosecutor's Office indicated that Campos-Hurtado was in the United States without legal immigration status. After serving his federal sentence and any pending state sentences, he is expected to undergo immigration proceedings for removal to Mexico.

The US government did not specify what date or where he entered the country.