Puerto Rican man sentenced to 4 years in prison for possession of child porn

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Ponce, Puerto Rico, man was sentenced Friday to four years in prison followed by supervised release for life for possession of child pornography. The investigation leading to this sentence was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF).

On June 29, 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Billy Santos-Feliciano, 36, for possessing three video compilations depicting, among other things, infants and toddlers being tied, bound and forcibly raped, and sexually abused.

During the sentencing hearing, the defense called two psychological experts in an effort to provide mitigating evidence in the hope of convincing the court to impose a sentence of probation or, at most, a sentence of one year in prison. On cross examination, Assistant United States Attorney Marshal Morgan was able to use the defendant's own expert witnesses to justify a request for a life sentence of supervised release. Morgan was able to get both experts to agree that research and studies have shown that sexual predators cannot be cured of their sexually deviant desires and that they will likely require intense therapy and treatment for the rest of their lives in order to control their deviant sexual impulses. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Gustavo Gelpí agreed and sentenced the defendant accordingly.

In response to the need for an island-wide approach to fighting the escalation of predatory crimes against children, HSI San Juan partnered with members of local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as local and state government officials and community leaders, to form PRCACTF in June 2011.

Through PRCACTF, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work together with local and state government agencies to effectively pool their resources to jointly investigate all crimes against children in Puerto Rico. Through the task force, law enforcement officers are encouraged to share evidence, ideas, and investigative and forensic tools to ensure the most successful prosecutions possible. As such, PRCACTF allows law enforcement to speak with one unified voice in defense of the children of Puerto Rico.

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-DHS-2ICE 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 (1-800-843-5678).

HSI is a founding member and the U.S. representative 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.