Connecticut man sentenced to 10 years in child enticement sting
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release for enticing a minor to send him sexually explicit videos and pictures. The sentencing serves as the culmination of a detailed investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Waterbury Police Department.
Miguel Torres, 45, of Waterbury, Connecticut, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport for enticing a minor. According to court documents and statements made in court, Torres met a minor female at the church they both attended. Torres offered to mentor the minor, gave her his cell phone number, and they began communicating via text messages. In late June 2013, when the minor was 14 years old, Torres began to ask the minor to send him sexually explicit videos and pictures. Their text message conversations became sexually explicit and Torres persuaded the minor to take sexually explicit videos and pictures of herself and send them to him. Torres also sent the minor sexually explicit videos and pictures of himself, and he told her that he had engaged in sexual conduct with other girls so that the minor would be comfortable with it.
“Predators who target young children for their own despicable gratification must know that we in law enforcement will not rest until they are brought to justice,” said Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI Boston. “This sentencing is a timely reminder to parents, that as children finish school for the summer, there will be lots of additional time for surfing the web – unfortunately predators know this too.”
Torres has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on August 30, 2013, and he pleaded guilty to the offense on March 4, 2015.
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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. 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-THE-LOST.
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 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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