Man who killed himself as feds close in was former cop facing child porn charges

Ruben Rene Huerta, 46, went into a house in the 2900 block of Eagle Ridge where he barricaded himself for much of Wednesday, the sources said. He was later found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the chest, the sources confirmed. less Ruben Rene Huerta, 46, went into a house in the 2900 block of Eagle Ridge where he barricaded himself for much of Wednesday, the sources said. He was later found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to ... more Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close Man who killed himself as feds close in was former cop facing child porn charges 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

A former Bexar County jailer and ex-San Antonio Park police officer facing a charge of receiving child pornography killed himself as federal agents moved in to arrest him, law enforcement officials confirmed Thursday.

A federal warrant was obtained Tuesday for the arrest of Ruben Rene Huerta, but he eluded FBI agents who showed up at his parents’ home in the Ingram Hills neighborhood on Wednesday to take him into custody about 4:45 p.m.

“Agents went to the residence in preparation for his arrest,” said Special Agent Michelle Lee, spokeswoman for the FBI in San Antonio. “He did run into the residence. Shortly thereafter, (agents) heard gunfire.”

The FBI’s SWAT team was summoned, as San Antonio police also responded, and hours later, Huerta was found dead inside the home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the chest, a police report said. An autopsy was ordered.

A federal task force that investigates crimes against children had been investigating the case for at least a month, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in federal court. The agents were acting on a lead sent to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It related to 64 images of child porn associated with the operator of “nastydaddysblog,” on the Tumblr application.

Agents traced the user to Huerta, who was working as a night desk clerk at a local motel. Search warrants were served Oct. 24 on his mobile phone and vehicle at the hotel, and at his residence, the affidavit said. Agents found child porn on his cell phone and crystal methamphetamine at his home, the affidavit said.

Huerta was interviewed at the time and admitted creating and operating the blog, the affidavit said. He used his mobile phone and laptop to access child porn, and admitted using other applications and the dark web to access child porn and to “role play in regard to his sexual interest in children,” the affidavit said.

The affidavit also said Huerta was a detention officer for Bexar County from 1993 to 1995 and a San Antonio Park Police officer from 1995 until he was fired in 2009, and that he used his former badge numbers as his passcodes for his mobile phone and a vault application where he maintained child pornography.

It was unclear Thursday why he was fired by Park Police; other records show he was charged with drunken driving in 2004 while he was a park officer.

“Huerta expressed that he began using crystal methamphetamine and accessing child pornography after he was terminated from the San Antonio Park Police, in order to maintain a ‘rush’ and because the material was ‘taboo,’” the affidavit said.

Agent Lee said Huerta was not arrested on Oct. 24 because FBI protocol is that suspects in such cases are not immediately taken into custody unless there are minors in the home or there is evidence of a “hands-on offense.”

“They take time to put together a complaint and affidavit with strong probable cause,” Lee explained. “They had also planned other investigative actions to bolster the case.”

Conviction on a charge of receiving child pornography carries a sentence of five years to 20 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland