Man Sentenced To 50 Years In Prison For Production Of Child Pornography

SAN JUAN, P.R. - Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, announced today that United States District Judge Carmen C. Cerezo sentenced 42 year old Luis Alberto Morales-Badillo to serve a term of imprisonment of 50 years imprisonment followed 15 years of supervised release, to be served consecutively to the 15 year imprisonment term imposed for additional sexual aggression charges against minors.  On November 16, 2012, Morales-Badillo pled guilty to five counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In May, 2012, the defendant was charged for production and possession of child pornography.  The evidence in this case revealed that during an eleven year period, from 1999 to 2010, the defendant sexually abused and/or engaged in illicit sexually explicit conduct with five different female minors and documented his sexual abuse by making visual depictions of such conduct from 2003-2010. From 1999-2004 he abused a female minor while she was 8-12 years old; from 2005-2008 he sexually abused two female minor siblings while they were 4-8 and 9-12 years old respectively; from 2007-2008 he exploited a female minor while she was 12-13 years old; and in 2010 he took advantage and exploited an 8 year old female minor. Such evidence was discovered during a search warrant execution by Homeland Security Investigations Agents wherein a digital camera and a laptop computer was seized in August, 2011.

The defendant has also been convicted at the state level for sexually abusing two additional female minor victims during the time period of 1995-1999.

The defendant exhibited a pattern of sexual abuse against innocent female minors until he was arrested in 2011. Luis Morales Badillo caused substantial lifetime harm to his victims.

“Justice was done today.  This sentence should serve to reassure the public that we are paying close attention to the well-being of our children, and that we will spare no expense to take child predators off the streets,” said US Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.   “All child sexual predators will be held accountable for the unspeakable crimes they commit and the harm they cause to their victims and their families.”

Project Safe Childhood is an initiative of the Department of Justice aimed at preventing the abuse and exploitation of children by the use of digital cameras, computers and other digital and electronic media.

The criminal prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenifer Y. Hernàndez and investigated by ICE agents.