EAST ST. LOUIS — A 34-year old Beckemeyer man, Miguel Angel Vasquez Torres, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court to a three-count indictment charging him with Production of Child Pornography, Distribution of Child Pornography and Receipt of Child Pornography, according to Acting United States Attorney James L. Porter.
Vasquez Torres has been in custody since he was arrested on these charges on August 25, 2015. Sentencing has been set for
(Source: CCSO)
June 28, 2016.
Documents filed in the U.S. District Court establish that in May 2015, the FBI received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline regarding an individual who was uploading child pornography to a Photobucket.com cloud storage account.
A search of the Photobucket account revealed that the account belonged to Miguel Angel Vasquez Torres and that it contained numerous video and image files containing child pornography.
During a subsequent search of Vasquez Torres’ residence, law enforcement officers seized two cellular telephones and numerous other items of computer media. During an interview with law enforcement officers, Vasquez Torres admitted to downloading and distributing video files containing child pornography.
He also admitted that he had repeatedly sexually abused a minor over the course of several years and that he had photographed his acts of sexual abuse of the minor victim.
A forensic examination of Vasquez Torres’ iPhone 5 revealed approximately 22 video files containing child pornography that he had distributed and received using an internet-based messaging system.
The forensic examination of his Samsung Galaxy revealed approximately 440 images which depict Vasquez Torres’ sexual abuse of the minor victim.
Vasquez Torres faces a prison term of not less than 15 years up to life, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than 5 years up to life for the charge of Production of Child Pornography.
On the charges of Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography, Vasquez Torres faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years up to 20 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than 5 years up to life on each count.