Baltimore Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Distributing Child Pornography Online

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Rafael Luis Mieles, age 25, of Baltimore, today to 10 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for distributing child pornography in connection with an online ad he posted seeking to have sex with a father and son. Judge Quarles ordered that upon his release from prison, Mieles must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; and Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the plea agreement, on February 17, 2010, while working undercover, a Baltimore County Police detective answered an online Craig’s List ad posted by Mieles that indicated he was interested in communicating with an incestuous father-son, sexually active couple. The detective responded to the ad via email stating he was a parent of a 12-year old boy.

The next day, Mieles emailed the detective stating that he was very interested in communicating with him, and sent the detective two pictures of himself, one of which was sexually explicit. Mieles asked the detective if he had “pedo pics to trade.” Mieles told the detective that he wanted to perform oral sex on the detective’s 12-year old son and wanted the 12-year old boy to perform oral sex on him. Mieles also sent an image and a video depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

On March 1, 2010, Mieles sent the detective five videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Mieles continued to discuss, in explicit detail, his desire to perform various sexual acts with the detective’s 12-year old son. While Mieles was communicating via the Internet with the detective, the detective informed Mieles that his 12-year old son was sitting at the computer with him. Mieles turned on his webcam and began to masturbate while he thought the 12-year old boy was watching. Mieles agreed to meet the detective and the 12-year old boy to have sex.

On March 2, 2010, Mieles again contacted the detective via the Internet and confirmed the location where he would meet the detective and the 12-year old boy. When Mieles arrived at the meeting place he was arrested by members of the Baltimore County Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit. Officers searched Mieles and seized a cell phone, a laptop containing child pornography, a stack of discs and two toy cars, which cars he had promised to bring for the 12-year old boy. Mieles admitted that he intended to have sex with the individual he was communicating with via the Internet as well as the individual’s 12-year old son.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Details about Maryland’s program are available at www.justice.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Baltimore County Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit, the FBI and ICE for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tamera Fine and Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.