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Press Release

Pasco Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Production and Receipt of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington

Spokane– Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Sergio Magana, Jr., age 26, of Pasco, Washington, was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison as a result of his convictions for production and receipt of child pornography.

On November 1, 2016, Magana was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of Production of Child Pornography and one count of Receipt of Child Pornography. Today, United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr., who presided over the trial, sentenced Magana to a 20-year term of imprisonment for Production of Child Pornography, and a 5-year term of imprisonment for Receipt of Child Pornography, to be served concurrently. Judge Mendoza further imposed a lifetime term of supervised release, and sex offender registration.

According to the evidence presented at trial or disclosed during court proceedings, Magana came to the attention of law enforcement in 2014, after a fourteen-year-old girl reported that she had been raped by an adult male at her family’s residence in Pasco. The adult male was later identified as Magana. During the course of the rape investigation, a Pasco police detective received Magana’s cellular phone from a third party. The cellular phone was subsequently examined, and determined to contain child pornography depicting a fifteen-year-old girl. The cellular phone also contained communications between Magana and the fifteen-year-old girl, during which Magana solicited child pornography depicting the minor, inquired where the minor lived, and stated that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with the minor. The Pasco Police Detective located and identified the fifteen-year-old minor. Evidence obtained by law enforcement officers during the course of the investigation revealed that Magana had engaged in a pattern of behavior whereby he contacted minor girls on Facebook and subsequently sought to meet or obtain photographs of said girls.

Joseph H. Harrington said, “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. 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.”

“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 for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle. “This sentence is a testament to our dedicated HSI agents and law enforcement partners who aggressively hunt down these abusive pedophiles and bring them out of the shadows to ensure they receive the judgment they deserve.”

This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May, 2006 by the United States Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:

• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;

• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;

• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;

• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and

• Community awareness and educational programs.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Homeland Security Investigations, the Pasco Police Department, and Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation of this matter. The case was prosecuted by Laurel J. Holland, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Updated March 16, 2017

Press Release Number: 15-CR-6036-SMJ