Apex Man Sentenced to 21 Years for the Manufacture of Child Pornography

NEW BERN – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that in federal court on January 4, 2017, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced ANGEL GUERRERO-URIEL, 24, from Apex, N.C., to 252 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for the Manufacture of Child Pornography (CP). GUERRO-URIEL pled guilty to the charge on July 13, 2015.

In October 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force (FBICETF) in Raleigh, North Carolina, received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which indicated that images of child sexual exploitation had been uploaded on a social networking website which allows users to share photos, videos, and music. Additionally, the email address and Internet Protocol address (IP address) for the suspect was captured and provided to authorities. The subscriber to that IP address was identified.

Between September 20, 2015, and October 1, 2015, the suspect uploaded 47 files that portrayed child erotica and child sexual exploitation.

On December 15, 2015, the Apex Police Department in Apex, North Carolina, and the FBICETF executed a search warrant at the residence. Agents made contact with ANGEL GUERRERO-URIEL at the residence at which time he provided a statement and consented to a preliminary examination of his cellular phone. Specifically, GUERRERO-URIEL indicated that he lived at the address. Agents subsequently located GUERRERO-URIEL’s phone and a preliminary examination revealed a video of two minor males taking a shower; however, the video did not rise to the level of child pornography (CP). Nonetheless, the defendant acknowledged surreptitiously recording Victim 1, age 7, and Victim 2, age 8, in the shower on December 4, 2015. GUERRERO-URIEL advised that the victims frequently visited his residence because he was a longtime friend of their mothers. However, the defendant acknowledged maintaining iCloud and Dropbox accounts linked to his phone which contained images of CP, as well as the shower video he produced. As the preliminary examination of GUERRERO-URIEL’s phone continued, agents located a video which depicted the molestation of a child. The defendant acknowledged producing the video. GUERRERO-URIEL acknowledge producing two videos which depicted the sexual molestation of Victim 1.

A complete forensic examination of the defendant’s phone, computer equipment, and media storage accounts uncovered at least 85 images and 29 videos depicting CP; however, these images and videos were not manufactured by the defendant. Based on the investigation, GUERRERO-URIEL manufactured CP by filming himself sexually molesting Victim 1, a 7-year-old child, while acting as the child’s baby sitter/guardian. Furthermore, GUERRERO-URIEL produced child pornography on at least three occasions and engaged in prohibited sexual acts with Victim 1 on at least two occasions.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force (FBICETF) in Raleigh and the Apex Police Department. The federal prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Ethan A. Ontjes.