FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
June 13, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: CR-F-10-00427 OWW

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today Senior United States District Judge Oliver W. Wanger sentenced Andrew Martinez, 23, of Bakersfield, to 17.5 years in prison for his conviction for one count of receipt of child pornography. The prison sentence will be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release during which Martinez’s access to minors, computers, and the Internet will be restricted. The court also ordered Martinez to forfeit items used to commit the offense and ordered him to pay restitution to one of the minors whose image he possessed.

            This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Bakersfield. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Gappa and Stanley A. Boone.

            According to court documents, investigators determined that a computer at Martinez’s residence was making images of child pornography available on a file-sharing network. Investigators executed a search warrant and found a computer that contained dozens of files of still images and videos of child pornography.

            Michael Toms, resident agent in charge for ICE-HSI in Bakersfield said, “Unfortunately, many consumers of child pornography don’t stop at viewing sexually explicit images and videos This defendant is accused in a separate case of  acting out his fantasies and victimizing actual children. Given the considerable public safety risks, targeting child sexual predators will continue to be a top priority for ICE Homeland Security Investigations here and nationwide.”

            In a separate investigation, Martinez had been charged in the Kern County Superior Court with sexual abuse of three minors and had been released on bail on those charges, which remain pending. In the federal case, he was ordered detained as a flight risk and danger to the community and has been in custody since his arrest in October 2010.

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

####

 

Return to Top