Sex Tourist Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Traveling to Colombia to Sexually Exploit Minors

MIAMI – A sex tourist has been sentenced to life in federal prison for sexually exploiting minors he met while traveling to Colombia.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra imposed the sentence on Manuel Poceiro, 69, of Miami, after pleading guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, attempted production of child pornography, and possession of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

“This defendant traveled overseas to prey on children, recorded their abuse, and tried to hide his crimes behind borders and money transfers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “A life sentence reflects the gravity of that evil and ensures he will never again have the opportunity to harm a child. Let this sentence send a clear message: those who sexually exploit children, anywhere in the world, will be hunted down, prosecuted, and removed permanently from society.”

According to court records, on Feb. 6, 2024, Poceiro met with an individual he believed would assist him in transporting and laundering money related to narcotics trafficking. During that meeting, Poceiro showed the individual numerous photographs and videos depicting multiple minor victims with whom he had engaged in sexual acts while in Colombia. Some of the images and videos had been recorded by Poceiro himself.

On Feb. 2, 2025, Poceiro arrived at Miami International Airport on a flight from the Dominican Republic. During a secondary inspection, law enforcement officers conducted a cursory search of Poceiro’s cellphone, which revealed dozens of images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Law enforcement later conducted a forensic review of Poceiro’s devices, which identified CSAM involving at least five minor victims.

Court records further show that Poceiro engaged in sexually explicit chat message conversations with a minor victim between the ages of 14 and 16 through a messaging application and solicited explicit material. Records from a money exchange service reflect that Poceiro made several payments to individuals in Colombia on behalf of minor victims because they could not receive the payments directly due to their age.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami investigated the case. HSI Colombia’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit including agents from Colombian National Police’s Directorate of Protection (DIPRO) provided invaluable assistance.

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey Pence Tomanelli prosecuted the case.

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 U.S. 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.

To report suspected human trafficking or to obtain resources for victims, please call 1-888-373-7888; text “BeFree” (233733), or live chat at HumanTraffickingHotline.org. The toll-free phone, SMS text lines, and online chat function are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Help is available in English, Spanish, Creole, or in more than 200 additional languages. The National Hotline is not managed by law enforcement, immigration, or an investigative agency. Correspondence with the National Hotline is confidential, and you may request assistance or report a tip anonymously.

To report online child sexual exploitation visit https://report.cybertip.org/ or call 1-800-843-5678. The Cyber Tip Line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in partnership with HSI and other law enforcement agencies.

To learn more about the National Resource Hotline, visit http://www.humantraffickinghotline.org. To learn more about the U.S. Department of Justice’s efforts to combat human trafficking, visit www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 25-cr-20068.

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