Boston, MA
After pleading guilty to child pornography charges, a former Groton,
Massachusetts man was sentenced to time served, six days in federal
prison. The defendant, Steven Saunders, 28, of Chula Vista, Calif.,
admitted to wanting to have children in order to engage in sexual
activity with them, as well as have the children engage in sexual
contact with each other.
On October 1, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock
sentenced Saunders to time served, six days in prison, followed by 10
years of supervised release on possession of child pornography charges.
The government recommended 51 months in prison to be followed by a
lifetime of supervised release.
According to the agreed-upon statement of facts, Saunders possessed
images of child pornography, including images of naked minors being
penetrated in some fashion or having a sexual act performed on them. In
addition, Saunders admitted that he maintained an online relationship
with someone with whom he chatted about having children together and
having the children engage in sexual activity with the parents
themselves, as well as having the children engage in sexual contact with
each other.
Jacksonville, FL
United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announced today that Kamil
Mezalka (21, Palm Coast) pleaded guilty to a federal charge of receiving
child pornography over the Internet. Mezalka faces a mandatory minimum
sentence of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000
fine, and a potential life term of supervised release. The plea
agreement also requires Mezalka to forfeit his computers and other
digital media. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court documents, on March 15, 2012, an agent with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in Philadelphia began an
undercover Internet investigation to identify persons using a file
sharing program to obtain and share child pornography. Using a computer,
the agent logged into this file sharing program and observed that an
individual using a particular screen name was logged into the network.
The agent browsed the user’s shared directory and observed that over
4,000 files were being shared therein, many of which contained titles
and descriptions of child pornography and the sexual abuse of children.
The investigation revealed that during the timeframe of the download
sessions, the IP address being used was issued to an account registered
to an individual at a particular residence in Palm Coast, Florida.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Mezalka was an occupant of this
residence.
Erie, PA
A resident of Erie, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to
charges of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of
children, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Michael Vay Daratany, 35, of 2301 Loveland Avenue, Erie,
Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to two counts before United States District
Judge Sean J. McLaughlin.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that
Daratany distributed and possessed computer images and movies depicting
minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Many of the images and
movies found on Daratany’s computer equipment depicted the sexual abuse
of infants and toddlers.
Houston, TX
The last three defendants charged in Operation Total Exposure have
been convicted, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.
Operation Total Exposure was the single largest domestic sex
trafficking case in the history of the Southern District of Texas. At
least one minor was rescued during the course of the investigation and
other minors and several adults have been returned to their families.
Today, John Butler, 52, of Houston; Jamine Lake, 30, of Houston; and
Ronnie Presley, 38, formerly of Houston, entered their guilty pleas
before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes. All were convicted of conspiracy
to commit sex trafficking. Butler and Lake further admitted to one
count of transportation, while Presley was convicted on two of those
counts. Lake and Presley were also convicted of one and two counts of
coercion and enticement, respectively.
El Paso, TX
United States Attorney Robert Pitman and FBI Special Agent in Charge
Mark Morgan announced that 46-year-old Joe Tapia, III, of El Paso, faces
a minimum mandatory 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison after
pleading guilty earlier today to solicitation of material relating to
the sexual exploitation of children.
Appearing before United States District Judge Frank Montalvo, the
former Excel Learning Center (ELC) admissions service representative and
local church youth minister admitted that he had images of child
pornography as well as a sexually explicit instant messenger chat with a
16-year-old male on his work computer. Furthermore, Tapia admitted that
he recorded video and still images of two individuals while they were
changing clothes prior to a church performance and used those recordings
to solicit other images of child pornography.
New Orleans, LA
Jason Long, age 35, of Norco, Louisiana, was charged in a one-count
bill of information for the sexual exploitation of children, announced
United States Attorney Jim Letten.
On March 1, 2011, a federal grand jury returned a two-count
indictment charging Long with receipt of child pornography. Long pled
guilty on April 25, 2012, to charges within the indictment, specifically
receiving images depicting the sexual victimization of children.
According to the plea documents, Long used his computers to access the
Internet. Once able to access the Internet, Long used peer-to-peer file
sharing programs to download approximately 232 pictures and 169 videos
of children victimized. Evidence demonstrated that Long searched for
images depicting minors engaged in specific types of conduct to
download. The images Long searched for and ultimately downloaded were of
children as young as 6 years old. As to these charges, Long faces a
maximum penalty of 20 years, followed by up to a life term of supervised
release, and a $250,000 fine. He can also be required to register as a
sex offender. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 10, 2012, at
9:00 a.m., before the Honorable Helen G. Berrigan.
Fresno, CA
On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, after a two-day trial in Fresno, a
jury found Eric Paul Vallejos, 38, of Modesto, guilty of receiving child
pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
Evidence introduced at trial showed that in September and October
2010, Vallejos made many files of child pornography available for
sharing on an Internet file-sharing website. Law enforcement officers
served a search warrant at his residence and seized a computer. At the
time it was seized, the computer was in the process of downloading
numerous images, including several that depicted the sexual abuse of
prepubescent minors.
Baltimore, MD
Terrance Dion Robinson, age 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded
guilty today to eight counts of sexually exploiting minors to produce
child pornography. Robinson had two previous convictions in Montgomery
County, Maryland, for crimes involving the sexual abuse of children.
According to the plea agreement, between 2007 and 2010, Robinson
produced images and videos of two prepubescent minors engaged in
sexually explicit conduct, while Robinson was alone with the victims.
Additionally, Robinson used a publicly available file sharing program to
download images and videos of child pornography from the Internet.
Robinson saved the images and videos to his laptop computer, external
hard drive, and to other digital media.
Alexandria, VA
Jonathan Adonay Fuentes, aka “Cheesy” and “Crazy Boy,” 20, of Prince
George’s County, Maryland, was arrested yesterday for his alleged role
in a child sex trafficking ring run by the international street gang
Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13).
“This arrest marks the twelfth gang member we have charged with child
sex trafficking,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “We hope gang members
and other pimps realize they face serious prison time for profiting from
forcing these children into sexual slavery.”
Rochester, NY
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Steven
Lewis, 39, of Ontario, New York, who was convicted of possession child
pornography, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and 15 years’
supervised release by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case,
stated that the defendant possessed over 600 images of child pornography
on each of at least two computers in his possession. Lewis received and
distributed the images using file sharing software. The images included
prepubescent children and involved depictions of violence. The images
were recovered after a search warrant was executed by members of the New
York State Police Computer Crimes Unit at the residence the defendant
shared with his father, Edward Lewis, on Knickerbocker Road. The search
warrant occurred after a New York State investigator was able to
download images of child pornography from the Internet protocol address
subscribed by the defendant.
Edward Lewis pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on October 2, 2012.
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