Lakeland man pleads guilty to producing child pornography
TAMPA, Fla. — A Lakeland man who pleaded guilty Friday to producing and transporting child pornography faces a maximum penalty of 80 years in federal prison. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Miami Beach Police Department, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Lakeland Police Department and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
According to the plea agreement, between July 2012 and March 2014, Benjamin Cuadrado, 40, of Lakeland, coerced an infant and a toddler to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing multiple videos of the conduct. He then sent the videos to others over the Internet. The investigation revealed that Cuadrado had produced at least 50 videos depicting the children. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
“This individual victimized the most defenseless in our community,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “Working hand-in-hand with our law enforcement partners, HSI will aggressively protect our communities from those who seek to sexually exploit children.”
This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.
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