POCATELLO - Jesus Nieto, 21, of American Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2017, to coercion and enticement of a minor, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez announced. Nieto was initially indicted by a federal grand Jury in Pocatello on May 24, 2016. Additional charges were filed in a superseding indictment in December 2016.
According to the plea agreement, Nieto utilized Internet-based social media to communicate with two girls, ages 11 and 15, for the purpose of soliciting sexually explicit pictures and persuading and coercing the girls into engaging in sexual intercourse with him. Nieto communicated with the girls from approximately November 2015 to January 2016.
The charge of coercion and enticement of a minor is punishable by up to life in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of at least five years, up to life.
Sentencing is set for May 17, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.
The case was investigated by the American Falls Police Department, with the assistance of the Power County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The agencies are southern Idaho members of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, focused on apprehending and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children. For more information about the Idaho ICAC Task Force and a list of all the participating agencies, visit www.icactaskforce.org.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
