Eduardo Luis Marrero Casanova, 53, a religious leader in Cayey, was sentenced on February 27, 2024, by Chief Judge Raul M. Arias Marxuach, to 240 months of imprisonment for two counts of production of child pornography.
According to court documents, from December 2022, through January 25, 2023, Marrero Casanova used a cellular phone, as well as internet instant messaging services, to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, and coerce two fifteen-year-old male minors to engage in sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, which includes the production of child pornography as defined in Title 18, United States Code. Also, Marrero Casanova did knowingly employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor, and attempted to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct.
In a separate case, Alexander Joel Rivera-Santos, from Salinas, PR, was sentenced by Senior Judge Francisco A. Besosa on February 9, 2024, to 51 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release for possession of child exploitation material, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B).
According to court documents, an investigation from HSI Phoenix into chat rooms utilizing the Viber chat application to exchange child pornography identified users who were members of a chat that was exchanging child pornography. Several users’ numbers were affiliated with phone numbers from Puerto Rico. Those numbers were referred to HSI San Juan for further investigation. An open-source database search revealed that one of the cellular phone numbers identified as a known member of those chat rooms was being used by Rivera-Santos. The results of the investigation revealed that from on or about May 6, 2021, through on or about June 24, 2022, Rivera-Santos, using a cellphone device which had internet capabilities, knowingly possessed, and accessed with intent to view, material containing images of child pornography, that is, sexually explicit images of minors and minors engaging in sexual acts, including images of prepubescent minors or minors who had not attained 12 years of age.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico; and Rebecca González Ramos, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations made the announcement.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daynelle Álvarez Lora and Emelina Agrait Barreto prosecuted the cases.
