Balbino Sablad, 81, of Vallejo, was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $3,500 for traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in 2019, Sablad flew to the Philippines with the intention of engaging in sexual conduct with a child under the age of 16. Using Facebook, Sablad had engaged in sexual chats with a person he believed was the intended minor victim and he sent the intended minor victim over $2,000 prior to his travel to the Philippines. Before he arrived, he also discussed with a co-conspirator his plan to sexually abuse the intended minor victim in the Philippines.
“Today’s sentence reflects the disturbing lengths the defendant was willing to go to engage in sexual acts with a child,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert. “Our office is committed to doing everything we can to help ensure that children are protected from future crimes by predators like the defendant.”
“The FBI works very closely with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to investigate perpetrators like Sablad and bring them to justice,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan. “Today’s sentencing should serve as a warning to individuals who exploit our society’s most vulnerable that no matter how far they travel to commit these reprehensible crimes, they are not beyond the reach of law enforcement.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosanne Rust prosecuted the case.
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.
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