DARLINGTON — A Darlington man will serve time in prison in Wisconsin before being deported back to Mexico after his sentencing Oct. 15 for child porn possession.

Juan Velazquez-Lopez, 57, was arrested and jailed in December 2019 after Darlington police worked with state and federal authorities to investigate a cybertip of child porn possession. Police executed a search warrant at his home in the 300 block of Keep Street.

Velazquez-Lopez “admitted having videos and photographs that showed children having sexual intercourse on his cellphone,” according to the criminal complaint. He told police “he did not think he was doing anything wrong, but that child pornography was bad.”

He pleaded guilty in August to three Class D felony counts of child porn possession. Seven additional counts were dismissed but “read in,” meaning the judge could consider them at sentencing. Velazquez also pleaded guilty to forgery, related to a fake Mexican ID police found in his wallet.

District Attorney Jenna Gill argued for six years of prison plus three years of extended supervision. She said she was troubled that Velazquez-Lopez posed as an 11-year-old to contact people on social media yet he didn’t see anything wrong with his behavior.

His attorney, Jair Alvarez, asked for the Department of Corrections’ recommendation of three years in prison. Velazquez-Lopez has no prior criminal record and his employer reported he was always punctual and worked hard, Alvarez said.

Velazquez-Lopez, who has been living in the U.S. about five years, will be deported at the end of his sentence and has family waiting for him in Mexico, the defense attorney said.

Judge Duane Jorgenson sided with the prosecution for the longer sentence. Velazquez-Lopez, appearing for the sentencing by video from jail, listened with his eyes closed and head down.

“It’s one thing for a 57-year-old man to have owned it, viewed it, possessed it, but ... apparently the defendant has posed as an 11-year-old child. There’s an effort and an attempt to draw young children into this enterprise,” Jorgenson said. “This is not a minimum offense. And I think the need to protect the public is significant.”

The judge added that he wasn’t convinced Velazquez-Lopez has strong family ties in Mexico: “There’s a real good likelihood that while he may lay low in Mexico, he is entirely likely to return to this country.”

For that reason, Jorgenson stipulated as a condition of the sentence that Velazquez-Lopez not enter or be in the U.S. without proper documentation.