GALENA PARK – Early on the morning of Friday, May 29 a police task force from the Houston Police Department raided a house on 9th Street, They arrested the occupant, Sergio J. Moya, and confiscated several computers, according to authorities.
The Galena Park Mayor’s son, Sergio J. Moya, age 26, was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, and housed in the Harris County jail. His bail was set at $70,000 for the three counts, and on Monday morning he had a hearing before Judge Brock Thomas in Criminal Court No. 338. At that time, represented by attorney Chip Lewis, he was released on bond and ordered to appear at the next hearing on Friday, July 17th.
Moya had been employed for about a month, as a dispatcher for the Precinct 2 Constable’s office, and as an unpaid Reserve Deputy Constable, but after the arrest he was fired by Pct. 2 Constable Chris Diaz. Ironically, Moya had completed police training at the Academy, where Diaz had presented him his certification.
No details of the charges have been made public at this time.
In an interview with the media on Friday, May 29, Mayor Esmeralda Moya emphasized that her son was cooperating with authorities, and that some details of the public charges were not correct. She claimed he did not own any computers and questioned the charges against her son. She pointed out that the raid was not at her house, contrary to some reports, and that her son lived in a house next to hers.
In the same interview, Moya’s husband Sergio Sr. said that their son was a good boy, with no problems, and believed the charges may have stemmed from disputes with neighbors or other parties in the community. Mayor Esmeralda Moya was asked the same question by media, and answered “what do you think?” and then acknowledged that the charges may have been politically motivated.
However, some authorities contacted by the North Channel Star suggested that the Houston Police Department has an investigative unit that routinely monitors the internet for illegal child porn and predators, and that this unit may have picked up messages to Moya’s computer address.
Until the facts come out in a court proceeding, the Galena Park community is talking about these many theories.