SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - United States Magistrate Judge Bruce McGiverin authorized a criminal complaint against Carlos Manuel Colón-Velàzquez, a 65-year old resident of Coamo for production of child pornography and attempted production of child pornography, following an investigation lead by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.
The affidavit alleges that on Jan. 2, 2015, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Juan, Child Exploitation Investigations Group (CEIG) received information from Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD), Coamo District, regarding a 14-year-old minor male. According to PRPD, a concerned mother of a 14-year old male minor, referred hereinafter as John Doe, discovered messages between John Doe and a Facebook user “Charlie Colon" who was later identified as Carlos Manuel Colón-Velàzquez. In those messages the defendant requested and received sexually explicit images from John Doe. Colón-Velàzquez also sent the minor a video of himself masturbating.
“Unfortunately, sexual abuse of children has become all too common in Puerto Rico," said United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “The USAO for the District of Puerto Rico is committed to taking full advantage of our investigative tools in order to protect our children from sexual predators."
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elba Gorbea. If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration of fifteen years.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
A criminal complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
