Registered sex offender sentenced to over 21 years in prison

WILMINGTON, Del. – A repeat child sex offender was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison Thursday plus a life time of supervised release following his sentence for receiving child pornography. The investigation that led to his sentence was a result of a joint U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Delaware State Police effort.

Rogelio “Roger” Cordero, 58, of New Castle, Delaware, will also be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

Cordero was previously convicted in Delaware of unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration and unlawful sexual contact, second degree in 1992. Those crimes involved Cordero’s sexual abuse of two female minors over an 18-month period. He was sentenced to 18 years in Delaware state prison, and five years of probation following his release. He was also ordered to undergo approximately 85 months of sex offender treatment. He was released from custody in December 2006, and committed the offenses he was just sentenced for while on state probation.

According to statements made and documents filed in court, Cordero came to the attention of the Delaware Child Predator Task Force (the “Task Force”) after it began an investigation into two other registered child sex offenders living in Delaware. That investigation began in October 2012, after the Task Force received a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The cyber-tip reported that an AOL user, subsequently identified as Cordero, had transmitted numerous emails containing child pornography using AOL’s email service.

On Dec. 20, 2012, task force officers executed a search warrant at Roger Cordero’s New Castle residence, where they found computers, smartphones and other digital devices containing thousands of images of child pornography featuring mostly prepubescent and adolescent children. They also found that Cordero had been trading child pornography with David Pennington, another registered child sex offender whom Cordero had met while both were incarcerated in the Smyrna Correctional Institution for child sex offenses.

The men shared the images of child pornography by mailing digital photographs saved to thumb drives back and forth to one another. They also found a small, concealable “pen” camera that Cordero had used to record explicit footage of a minor child changing clothes.

Later in the day of Dec. 20, 2012, task force officers executed a state search warrant at Pennington’s Georgetown residence. Pennington, who was then wearing an electronic monitoring device due to a state probation violation, was present for the search.

During the search, officers recovered evidence relating to the mailing of USB “thumb drives” containing child pornography and handwritten child sexual abuse stories between Pennington and Cordero. Pennington also informed the officers that he would view child pornography mailed to him by Cordero with another registered sex offender, William Zimmerman, of Georgetown, Delaware.

On Jan. 8, 2013, Task Force officers executed a state search warrant at Zimmerman’s Georgetown residence. They recovered several pieces of computer equipment found to contain hundreds of images of child pornography. The images featured children ranging in age from infancy to mid-teen being posed or engaged in sexual acts with adult males.

Cordero is now the third member of the group to be sentenced for child exploitation crimes. On Oct. 11, 2013, David Pennington was sentenced to 28 years in prison by Delaware Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves after pleading guilty to Dealing in Child Pornography, in violation of Delaware law. On April 22, 2014, William Zimmerman was sentenced to the mandatory minimum term of 15 years in federal prison by United States District Judge Gregory M. Sleet after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography.

Following the sentencing hearing, U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III said: “Cases like this are all too prevalent today. Mr. Cordero’s sentence should prevent him from ever exploiting another child. To those who are following in Cordero’s path, law enforcement is closing in on you, and when caught you should expect to be successfully prosecuted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.”

Col. Nathaniel McQueen, Jr., Delaware State Police superintendent stated, "The Delaware law enforcement community was utilized in bringing these three child predators to justice.  This case revealed the most horrific images and videos of child sexual exploitation.  This investigation encompassed areas from New Castle County to Sussex County.  Without the complete collaborative effort from the law enforcement community, this investigation would not have seen the successful service of justice that was issued against each child predator in this case."

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.