Los Angeles man convicted of producing child pornography while in Philippines

LOS ANGELES — Concluding a two-part trial, a Los Angeles man was convicted Tuesday of producing child pornography in the Philippines while being required to register as a sex offender due to his prior conviction for raping a 14-year-old girl.

Stanley Dan Reczko III, 50, who resided in the Koreatown District of Los Angeles, was found guilty of the charge by U.S. District Judge George H. King, who issued his ruling Tuesday afternoon from the bench. The charges are the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In the first part of the trial, a jury found Reczko guilty Feb. 20 of sexual exploitation of a minor by producing child pornography in the Philippines.

As a result of his conviction on the sexual exploitation charge, and because he has a prior conviction, Reczko faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison. The second charge of producing child pornography while being required to register as a sex offender carries a mandatory consecutive 10-year prison term. Therefore, Reczko faces a minimum sentence of 35 years in prison – and he could be sentenced to as much as life without parole in prison – when he is sentence by Judge King May 18.

HSI began investigating Reczko in May 2007 after the minor victim handed over a CD containing child pornography to the International Justice Mission (IJM), a non-governmental organization working in the Philippines. IJM provided the CD, along with other evidence, to HSI special agents working out of the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The evidence showed Reczko had used the minor to produce eight series of child pornography, which included images of him and the victim engaging in sexual intercourse.

Reczko has been in custody since his arrest upon returning to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2007.

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 10,000 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 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. 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.