SAN JUAN, P.R. – Francisco Xavier Ortiz-Colón, a private security guard, was indicted and arrested for production of child pornography, coercion and enticement of a minor, and receipt of child pornography, following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and a Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF) investigation, announced United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, W. Stephen Muldrow.
On August 19, 2020, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Ortiz-Colón with 13 counts of child exploitation. Today, HSI special agents arrested Ortiz-Colón at his place of residence.
The indictment charges Ortiz-Colón with one count each of possession and receipt of child pornography and five counts each of production of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor. The charging document alleges that from August 2019 through June 2020, Ortiz-Colón, at different dates, induced, enticed and coerced six female victims, ranging from nine (9) to fourteen (14) years of age, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. Ortiz-Colon used an Instagram account to commit these crimes.
“The production of child sexual abuse material is a horrific crime that can negatively affect victims for their entire lives,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “I am thankful to those who stopped this defendant from committing further crimes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners, are committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting these crimes.”
“This case has to be one of the most aberrant child exploitation cases investigated by HSI San Juan in terms of the charges filed against the individual as well as his modus operandi,” said Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Juan and U.S. Virgin Islands. “This man told one of his victims “they (referring to law enforcement) will never catch me,” – he was caught and now faces a long time in jail if found guilty in a court of law.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenifer Y. Hernández-Vega, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator in the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit, is in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen (15) years’ imprisonment, and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years’ incarceration for the production of child pornography counts; a mandatory minimum sentence of ten (10) years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of life for the coercion and enticement of a minor counts; and a statutory maximum of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment for the receipt and possession of child pornography counts.
This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 25,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2019, more than 3,500 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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