A man from McAllen, Texas, will spend 10 years in federal prison after being sentenced for attempting to coerce and entice a minor through Instagram, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani announced Thursday.
Israel Ruiz, 23, pleaded guilty March 29, according to a news release.
Ruiz also must serve five years of supervised release after his prison sentence. During that time, he will have to comply with requirements restricting his access to children and the internet. He also will be ordered to register as a sex offender.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Ruiz. During the sentencing hearing, Crane heard details on Ruiz’s methods of manipulation and extortion used against children to get them to share photographs constituting child pornography. During sentencing, Crane noted the danger child pornography is to the community.
From January to February 2020, Ruiz used Instagram to solicit explicit images from children as young as 9, authorities said.
The investigation revealed Ruiz’s tactics to obtain the pornographic materials, which included contacting minors through Instagram, as well as intimidating the victims by threatening to post other nude images of them or their friends online if they didn’t send him more photos.
Ruiz will stay in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be determined soon.
The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cahal P. McColgan and Alexa D. Parcell prosecuted.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to fight child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The FBI offers tips on protecting children from sextortion.
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