Bronx Daycare Provider Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Sexual Exploitation Of A Child And Producing Child Pornography

A Statement on the Sentencing from New York Field Office Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Freaney

The guilty pleas and sentencing of eleven defendants in connection to this global, multi-million-dollar fraud scheme is the culmination of a complex and far-reaching investigation by the United States Secret Service and its law enforcement partners. Using a variety of forensic tools, our investigators thwarted efforts by the defendants to conceal their identities as they duped unwitting victims out of millions of dollars. These schemes are devastating to the innocent people they snare and the Secret Service remains committed to holding those accountable who engage in this type of brazen, sophisticated criminality.

NEW YORK CITY - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SILFREDO CASTILLO MARTINEZ was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography with a minor victim who was under his watch in the Bronx daycare CASTILLO MARTINEZ owned and operated. On March 21, 2024, CASTILLO MARTINEZ pled guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and production of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who imposed today's sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "Silfredo Castillo Martinez exploited the trust placed in him as a daycare provider by sexually abusing one of the minor children under his care and recording that abuse. This lengthy prison sentence holds Castillo Martinez accountable for his horrific crimes and the extraordinary harm and trauma he caused."

According to the allegations contained in the Superseding Information and the Complaint:

From about July 2015 through about May 3, 2022, CASTILLO MARTINEZ operated a licensed daycare facility for children at his residence in the Bronx, New York (the "Daycare Facility").

From about May 2018 through about July 2018, CASTILLO MARTINEZ induced an 11-year-old minor ("Minor Victim-1") who attended the Daycare Facility to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him at the Daycare Facility while CASTILLO MARTINEZ recorded that conduct on his cellphone and camera.

On about May 3, 2022, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at CASTILLO MARTINEZ's residence and seized several electronic devices belonging to CASTILLO MARTINEZ. Those devices contained, among other things, several images and a video containing child pornography depicting Minor Victim-1 and approximately 9,800 other images depicting child pornography.

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In addition to his prison term, CASTILLO MARTINEZ, 34, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the U.S. Secret Service's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York City Police Department. Mr. Williams also thanked the Bronx County District Attorney's Office for its assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office's General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jackie Delligatti is in charge of the prosecution.

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