40 Year-Old Man Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison For Coercion And Enticement Of A Minor

SAN JUAN, P.R. – United States District Court Chief Judge Gustavo A. Gelpí sentenced Rubén Darío Báez-Aponte from Mayagüez, PR, to 11 years and three months in prison followed by a supervised release term of 20 years for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Báez-Aponte was arrested on October 26, 2018 and pleaded guilty on April 23, 2019.  

According to the plea agreement, during the months of May through August of 2018, Báez-Aponte used the Facebook Messenger application to communicate with a 12 year-old male minor to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce him to engage in sexually explicit conduct. The defendant requested sexually explicit photos from the male minor, and sent him pictures of his penis. The sexually explicit conduct occurred in at least four times at the defendant’s residence.

“This sentence should serve to reassure the public that we are paying close attention to the well-being of our children, and that we will spare no expense to take child predators off the streets,” said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “All child sexual predators will be held accountable for the unspeakable crimes they commit and the harm they cause to their victims and their families.” 

Homeland Security Investigations was responsible for investigation of the case. The criminal prosecution was handled by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Caraballo.

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