13 Oct Cotulla ISD Technology Director Faces Federal Child Pornography Charge

Joseph Yanez, who lives in Pearsall, was taken into custody in Laredo on Oct. 7. He faces a count of possession of child pornography, filed as a criminal complaint in federal court for the Southern District of Texas. No indictment has been returned. The charge is an allegation, and he has not been convicted of anything. A detention hearing is set for Thursday, Oct. 15.

The case goes back to March, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip to the Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force. The tip involved an X account that, in November 2025, uploaded material suspected of being child sexual abuse. The court records say X handed investigators an email address along with several IP addresses. Internet provider records traced one address to an apartment complex in Cotulla and a second to the district’s technology building on Center Street. A Google summons then tied the email to other accounts, among them one in Yanez’s name and one on a district email domain.

Investigators say they zeroed in on Yanez because the address on file for him was at that same complex and because he was publicly named as the district’s technology director. In April, agents served search warrants at his home and at his office inside the technology building, taking his phone and other electronics.

Yanez agreed to talk with agents after being read his rights. The records say he denied knowing about the tip but told them he had come across the material on X while trying to find adult pornography. A Homeland Security Investigations forensic analyst later reported recovering 738 images and 32 videos from the phone that match the definition of child sexual abuse material. The account’s email address was also signed in on the device, according to the records.

At an Oct. 9 federal court appearance, Yanez was ordered held, with no bond set. His lawyers asked for his release, pointing to his family responsibilities in Pearsall and his lack of a criminal record. They argued he does not pose a flight risk because he turned himself in after learning of the warrant, arranging through his attorney to surrender in Laredo without incident.