SAN JUAN, P.R. - Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced that United States District Judge Pedro A. Delgado-Hernández sentenced 33-year-old Sergio Cintrón-Rivera, to serve a term of imprisonment of 18 years followed by 10 years of supervised release. On Jan. 27, 2017, Cintrón-Rivera pled guilty to one count of production of child pornography involving a female minor, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Puerto Rico Police Department.
According to the indictment, on or about August 2015, Cintrón-Rivera induced a 15-year-old female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. The charging document also alleges that on or about October 2015 Cintron-Rivera distributed five images of the minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct via the smartphone instant messaging application Whatsapp.
“This sentence sends a strong message to people who abuse children. They will pay a heavy price for their actions. My office, along with our federal, state and local partners, remains committed to protecting children by aggressively pursuing, prosecuting and punishing those who seek to exploit them," said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.
Project Safe Childhood is an initiative of the Department of Justice aimed at preventing the abuse and exploitation of children by the use of digital cameras, computers and other digital and electronic media.
The criminal prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ginette Milanés.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
