Maryland Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Federal Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Child to Produce Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Jose Hilario Aldana-Moreno, age 37, of Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday to 22 years in federal prison, followed by 40 years of supervised release, for sexual exploitation of a child to produce of child pornography.  Judge Hollander also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Aldana-Moreno must register as a sex offender in the places 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 Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department; and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.

According to his guilty plea and other court documents, from 2014 to 2020 Aldana-Moreno sexually abused a minor victim, beginning when the victim was 10 years old.  Aldana-Moreno was a truck driver and traveled for work.  On at least five occasions while Aldana-Moreno was away, he engaged in video chats with the victim and convinced the victim to pose for him, taking screenshots of her genitals.  Aldana-Moreno also took images and videos documenting his sexual abuse of the victim at her home and when the victim traveled with him.   

As detailed in his plea agreement, Aldana-Moreno was arrested on January 15, 2022, and his cellphone was recovered.  A search of the phone revealed that Aldana-Moreno used a messaging application to send a video depicting the genitals of two prepubescent males to two separate individuals on May 29, 2018.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s 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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.       

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Elizabeth McGuinn, who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-childhood and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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