Registered Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Charges of Enticement, Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor

PROVIDENCE – A Waterbury, CT sex offender admitted to a federal judge in U.S. District Court in Providence, RI, that in March 2019, he engaged in a series of sexually explicit online communications with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl living in Rhode Island; that he attempted to arrange a meeting with the girl to engage in sexual acts; and that he sent obscene materials to the person with whom he was communicating, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Jesus Maldonado, 59, pleaded guilty on June 27, 2023, to charges of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity; attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor; and commission of a felony offense involving a minor when required to register as a sex offender.

In pleading guilty, Maldonado admitted that he engaged in a series of sexually explicit text message conversations with a person whom he believed to be “Jeni,” a 13-year-old girl living in Rhode Island. During the communications, he knowingly sent “Jeni” sexually explicit images and attempted to persuade her to engage in sexual activity. The person with whom he was communicating was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer assigned to the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and a Task Force Officer with Homeland Security Investigations.

According to court records, at the time Maldonado engaged the illicit conduct with “Jeni,” he had previously been convicted in two different cases of sexual contact offenses with female children and, as a result, was a registered sex offender, as required by law.

Maldonado is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2023. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Denise M. Barton and Stacey A. Erickson.

The matter was investigated by the Rhode Island State Police ICAC,  the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office.

United States Attorney Cunha thanks the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, and HSI, New Haven, CT., for their assistance.

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