SACRAMENTO, Calif. - On Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Michael Anaya-Otero, 21, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, charging him with production of child pornography and interstate travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, in April 2016 and again in January 2017, Anaya-Otero allegedly traveled to Placer County in order to engage in sexual conduct with a seventh grader. Anaya-Otero is also alleged to have taken sexually explicit pictures of the victim, which he then transported with him back to New Jersey. Separately, in June 2017, Anaya-Otero had an online relationship over Snapchat and Instagram with a second juvenile victim in El Dorado County, and he is alleged to have maintained sexually explicit images of this juvenile victim on his cellphone.
On January 5, 2018, Anaya-Otero was arrested in New Jersey.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey B. Hemesath is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Anaya-Otero faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources" tab for information about internet safety education.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
