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Press Release

Des Moines Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offense

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa

DES MOINES, IA – A Des Moines man was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for producing child pornography.

According to court documents, Michael Aaron Estrada, age 35, used Snapchat in 2019 and 2020 to communicate with a minor who lived in Massachusetts. Estrada knew the minor with whom he was communicating was 15 years old. On multiple dates between August 2019 and June 2020, Estrada knowingly solicited from that minor pictures and videos of the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The minor created “selfie” photos and videos of herself as requested and sent them to Estrada via Snapchat. Separate from the conduct involving the 15-year old, Estrada also downloaded other pictures and videos of child pornography from the internet in 2019 and 2020 and distributed videos of child pornography via the internet in March 2020.

Acting U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

The FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the case. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the United States Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

Contact

Rachel J. Scherle
515-473-9300
USAIAS-PAO@usdoj.gov

Updated June 10, 2021

Topic
Project Safe Childhood