Washington state man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for producing child pornography
SPOKANE, Wash. – An eastern Washington resident was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for producing and receiving child pornography, following a multiagency probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Pasco Police Department, and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Sergio Magana, Jr., 26, of Pasco, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography and five years in prison for receiving child pornography. The terms are to be served concurrently. Magana was convicted by a federal jury in November 2016. The case was prosecuted by Laurel J. Holland, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. also ordered that Magana be subject to lifetime supervision and register as a sex offender following his release from prison.
According to the evidence presented during the trial, Magana came to law enforcement’s attention in 2014 after a 14-year-old girl reported she had been raped by a man at her family’s residence in Pasco. The man was later identified as Magana.
“The law enforcement officers with Homeland Security Investigations, the Pasco Police Department, and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force must be commended for their tireless work on this matter,” said Joseph H. Harrington, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “Their seamless working partnership resulted in the successful prosecution of this case. Prosecuting offenders who produce and receive child pornography is a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.”
During the ensuing rape investigation, a Pasco police detective obtained Magana’s cell phone from a third party. On the phone investigators found a pornographic image of a 15-year-old girl. The phone also contained communications between Magana and the girl, in which he solicited pornographic images of her, inquired where she lived, and stated he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her.
Evidence obtained by law enforcement officers during the investigation revealed Magana had engaged in a pattern of behavior where he contacted girls he found through Facebook and sought to meet with or obtain photographs of them.
“Predators who view pornographic images of children fuel the disturbing actions of like-minded criminals who create the illegal content. Both rob the innocence of their victims and leave permanent scars that can never be entirely healed,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “This sentence is a testament to the dedication of the HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to bring these pedophiles out of the shadows to ensure they receive the judgment they deserve.”
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. 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.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
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