Springdale Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Federal Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

          Fayetteville, Arkansas - Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Julian Rivera, age 21, of Springdale, was sentenced today to 600 months in federal prison without the possibility of parole and twenty five years of supervised release on one count of Production of Child Pornography and one count of Possession of Child Pornography.  The sentencing hearing took place before the Honorable Timothy L. Brooks in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

            According to court records, in February, 2015, the Springdale Police Department was contacted by a family member of a minor female reporting that a Hispanic male attempted to kidnap and sexually assault her as she walked home from school. After a subsequent investigation, the Springdale Police Department arrested the defendant, Julian Rivera.  At the time of his arrest, Rivera’s IPhone was seized pursuant to a search warrant.  A subsequent forensic examination of his IPhone revealed numerous videos of the defendant masturbating in front of and sexually assaulting minors, the youngest of which was approximately five (5) years of age.  Rivera was indicted by a federal grand jury in October, 2015 and pleaded guilty to the charge in December, 2015.

            This case was investigated by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Springdale Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case for the United States.

            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 their Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Sections (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.

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Related court documents may be found on Public Access to Electronic Records Website @www.Pacer.gov