Former English Tutor Sentenced for Sexually Exploiting Children in China and the United States

Hector Orjuela Jr., 47, was sentenced today to serve 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for molesting children under the age of 12 and producing child pornography, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory B. Starr.

Orjuela pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2013, before U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in the District of Columbia, to two counts of engaging in and attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count of producing child pornography.

According to court documents, Orjuela is a U.S. citizen who worked as an English teacher and tutor in Shanghai, China.   In July 2012, Orjuela traveled to Maryland and molested a girl under the age of 12 and produced child pornography of the sexual abuse.  In August 2012, Orjuela traveled to China and molested one girl and attempted to molest another, both of whom were under the age of 12 and residing in China at that time.   Orjuela traveled back to the United States in early November 2012 and then returned to China later that month where he continued to molest the same two young girls.

This case is a result of investigative efforts led by the FBI Washington Field Office, with assistance from the FBI Beijing Legat Office; the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Regional Security Office in Shanghai; the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s International Cooperation Division; the Shanghai Criminal Investigation Division and the Shanghai Exit and Entry Bureau.   This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Sarah Chang and Mi Yung Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the District of Maryland.

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. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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.