Suburban Chicago Man Admits Producing Child Pornography

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge for taking dozens of sexually explicit photographs of a three-year-old child.

MARCOS GERMAN MENDEZ, 34, of Rosemont, Ill., pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of production of child pornography.  The conviction is punishable by a minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum of 30 years.  U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland set sentencing for June 21, 2022.

Mendez admitted in a plea agreement that on two occasions in 2015 he took a total of more than 60 sexually explicit photographs of the child while she was sleeping.  Mendez saved the images on his iPhone and iCloud account, and in 2016 he fled to Mexico.  He was later arrested and extradited to the United States.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Angie Salazar, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations.  Valuable assistance was provided by HSI’s Mexico City office; FBI Chicago Field Office; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Postal Service; Cook County, Ill., Sheriff’s Office; and U.S. Marshals Service.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Misty N. Wright and Ashley A. Chung.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.