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February 21, 2013Sacramento, CA, United StatesChild Exploitation

Sacramento man sentenced to more than 15 years for child pornography

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento man has been sentenced to 15 years and eight months on child pornography charges stemming from a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Gregory Paul Aguirre, 38, of Sacramento, was previously convicted of distributing and possessing child pornography. Upon completion of the prison term, U. S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr. ordered that Aguirre will be subject to 10 years of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Prince prosecuted the case.

According to court records, Aguirre maintained a collection of approximately 185 videos and 550 still images depicting minors engaged in various types of sexually explicit conduct. He shared and posted the images from his computer to others on the Internet. Aguirre pleaded guilty to distribution and possession of materials containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on Oct. 11, 2012.

"As this sentence makes clear, those who trade child pornography over the Internet face serious consequences," said Daniel Lane, assistant special agent in charge for HSI Sacramento. "The reality is, every time a photo or a video of an innocent child being sexually exploited is viewed, that victim is violated again. That is why we owe it to all of children affected by these cases to work tirelessly to seek answers, and ultimately – justice."

The charges stem from HSI's Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers, and Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice effort launched in May 2006 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.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair 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.

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