Plummer Idaho Man Sentenced to 23 Years for Child Exploitation

COEUR D’ALENE - Carlos Manuel Marquez-Pierce, 23, of Plummer, Idaho, and an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 23 years in federal prison for production of child pornography and sexual abuse of a minor, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. announced today. U.S. District Judge William Fremming Nielsen, presiding in Spokane, Washington, also ordered Marquez-Pierce serve supervised release for his life following his prison sentence. Marquez-Pierce pleaded guilty to the charge on January 25, 2021. The Idaho case for sexual abuse of a minor, and the Eastern District of Washington case for production of child pornography, were consolidated for plea and sentencing.

According to court records, Marquez-Pierce committed sexual offenses against three minor victims, ages 11 and 12, over the course of nearly two years. Marquez-Pierce recorded sexually explicit conduct with one victim and distributed some of the produced images to others. As a result of his conviction, Marquez-Pierce will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene Resident Offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Tribal Police Departments, and the Spokane Police Department, with assistance from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Social Services. The cases were charged by the United States Attorney’s Offices in the District of Idaho and Eastern District of Washington, in cooperation with the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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