Waterbury Resident Pleads Guilty To Enticing A Minor He Met At Church

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MIGUEL TORRES, 45, of Waterbury, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in Bridgeport to one count of enticing a minor female to send him sexually explicit videos and pictures of herself.

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.

Judge Meyer scheduled sentencing for May 27, 2015, at which time TORRES faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and a fine of up to $250,000.

TORRES has been detained since his arrest on related state charges on August 30, 2013. 

This matter is being investigated by the Waterbury Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations.  The Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office in Waterbury is also providing critical assistance in this investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov