Source: United States Department of Justice News
SAVANNAH, GA: A former Savannah resident has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after he admitted sharing images of child sexual abuse.
Luis Carrasquillo, 40, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 121 months in prison after pleading guilty to Distribution of Child Pornography, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Carrasquillo also was ordered to register as a sex offender and to serve 15 years of supervised release after completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Luis Carrasquillo shared horrific images of children who were subjected to sexual abuse,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “With our law enforcement partners, we will be relentless in identifying pedophiles and holding them accountable.”
As described in court documents and testimony, agents from Homeland Security Investigations received a cybertip in November 2019 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, alerting them that images of child sexual exploitation were being shared from a Savannah location. Investigators narrowed the origin of the illegal file uploads to Carrasquillo’s Savannah apartment, and he was arrested in August 2020 after he had moved to San Juan. Investigators determined Carrasquillo shared multiple images depicting sexual abuse of children, some of them as young as toddlers.
“This sentence should serve as a warning to Carrasquillo and others like him who delight in the viewing and sharing of these despicable images of children being abused,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its partners are prioritizing the protection of our most vulnerable populations and we will continue to hold these criminals accountable.”
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer J. Kirkland.
This investigation took place under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood. Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.