HSI investigation results in Mount Pleasant man sentenced to federal prison for child pornography charges

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Victor Alberto Elias Rodriguez, age 40, of Mount Pleasant, was sentenced Wednesday to 342 months in prison for the production of child pornography following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe. Elias Rodriguez was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following imprisonment and was assessed a $100 Special Assessment immediately payable to the Crime Victims Fund.

According to court documents, officers initiated an investigation into Elias Rodriguez after receiving information regarding his possible sexual abuse of a minor female. The investigation revealed that Elias Rodriguez had been sexually assaulting the minor victim from the age of five, up to this incident when the victim was 17-years-old. In addition, Elias Rodriguez took a video of the sexual assault with his cell phone. On Jan. 21, Elias Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the one-count Indictment.

This case was investigated by HSI. U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

Learn more about our child exploitation mission in your community @HSIKansasCity.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 Special Agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.