Faribault Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS—B. Todd Jones, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, announced that a 39-year-old Faribault man has pleaded guilty to producing a video containing child pornography. Appearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen in Minneapolis, Michael Angelo Borromeo pled guilty to one count of production of child pornography. Borromeo was indicted on October 22, 2009.

In his plea agreement, Borromeo admitted producing a video featuring a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct on June 21, 2008. He used his cellular telephone to film the 14-year-old victim. Borromeo was arrested on February 11, 2009, by the Rice County Sheriff’s Office and is now in federal custody.

For his crime, Borromeo faces a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years. Judge Ericksen will determine his sentence at a future date, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the Rice County Sheriff’s Office, the Faribault Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood (“PSC”), a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. PSC was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in May of 2006. Led by the Department’s Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, along with U.S. Attorney’s nationwide, PSC encourages federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships and provides resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who abuse children while identifying and rescuing victims of that crime. In 2008, PSC was credited with 2,289 child-pornography indictments being filed in federal court nationwide, a 33 percent increase over 2006. For more information about PSC, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.