Maryland man sentenced to 12 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography

GREENBELT, Md. — Juan Alvizures Oliva, 30, of Hyattsville, Md., was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow for production and possession of child pornography. The sentence follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Prince George's County Police Department and the Prince George's County State Attorney's Office.

Oliva will be required to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. It is expected that Oliva will be deported upon his release from prison.

According to his plea agreement, on Feb. 20, 2011, Oliva engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 4-year-old female, whom he was babysitting at the time. Oliva also had the child take off her clothes and expose her genitals and used his cell phone to take a photograph of the child in that state.

On April 4, 2011, Oliva was interviewed and admitted his conduct. Oliva's cell phone and home computer were seized and forensically examined by law enforcement. The photo Oliva had taken of the victim was found on his cell phone and had also been uploaded onto the computer for availability to distribute.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood and information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 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, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member 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.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.