Manteca Man with History of Molesting Children Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

SACRAMENTO, CA—Thomas Edward Aguero, Jr., 36, of Manteca, was sentenced Tuesday by United States District Judge William B. Shubb to 10 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, for distribution of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, on January 1, 2012, an undercover FBI task force officer signed onto a publicly available peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing network, where the officer identified another user with the moniker “moviebuff220.” That user was later identified as Aguero. While online, the agent was able to access Aguero’s shared directories that included numerous images of child pornography.

Aguero was arrested on June 1, 2012, and a review of his computer’s hard drive revealed approximately 2,476 images and 62 videos of child pornography, some of which contained images of infants being sexually assaulted. Aguero admitted to downloading child pornography every couple days for at least a year. Aguero’s bedroom contained framed photographs of children whose parents had not given him permission to display their images in this manner.

Further investigation revealed that Aguero had previously molested two girls on different occasions, one when she was approximately 9 years old and the other when she was 5 years old. The court took this into account when sentencing Aguero, as it heard testimony from these two victims during the sentencing hearing.

“During the course of the investigation, our agent uncovered a long history of deceit and denial by Aguero that enabled him to continue to victimize young girls as the years passed. His victims suffered for years unheard, despite their attempts to come forward and seek help,” Special Agent in Charge Monica M. Miller of the Sacramento Field Office of the FBI stated. “Aguero’s sentence may seem small in comparison to the years of abuse and emotional scarring that his victims suffered, but we sincerely hope that the sentence can bring them some peace and a step closer to healing and closure.”

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Michele Beckwith and Michelle Prince prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice 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 those who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “Resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.