2 sentenced to prison in separate child exploitation cases in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A religious leader in Cayey, Eduardo Luis Marrero Casanova, 53, was sentenced Feb. 27, 2024, by Chief Judge Raul M. Arias Marxuach, to 240 months of imprisonment for two counts of production of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, from December 2022 through Jan. 25, 2023, Marrero Casanova used a cellphone and instant messaging services to persuade, induce, entice and coerce two 15-year-old boys to engage in sexual activity so he could produce a visual depiction of it.

In a separate case on Feb. 9, Alexander Joel Rivera-Santos, of Salinas, was sentenced by Senior Judge Francisco A. Besosato 51 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release for possession of child exploitation material.

According to court documents, an HSI Phoenix investigation into chat rooms using the Viber chat app identified people who were exchanging child sexual abuse material. Several users’ numbers were affiliated with phone numbers from Puerto Rico. Those numbers were referred to HSI San Juan for further investigation, and an open source database search revealed that Rivera-Santos was using one of them. The investigation revealed that from on or about May 6, 2021, through on or about June 24, 2022, Rivera-Santos knowingly possessed and accessed with intent to view material containing images sexually explicit images of minors and images of minors engaging in sexual acts, including images of prepubescent minors or those younger than 12.

U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico and HSI San Juan Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Gonzalez Ramos made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daynelle Alvarez Lora and Emelina Agrait Barreto prosecuted the cases.