Source: United States Department of Justice News
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brian Baptise Formiconi, 49, of Roseville, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, law enforcement officers in Canada were investigating a large network of Kik Messenger users that were trading child pornography. When reviewing some of the chats, they found messages containing nude pictures of a minor victim being sent by Formiconi. Information from Kik, internet service providers, and other investigations led to the identification of Formiconi and the victim.
This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Roger Yang and Audrey Hemesath prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.