Florida Man Sentenced to 71 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography and Voyeurism Offenses

                   WASHINGTON – Kyle Blanco, 21, of Orlando, Florida, was sentenced today to 71 months in prison for possessing over 1,000 child pornography files and using his iPhone to surreptitiously record women as they used bathroom stalls at American University, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Blanco pleaded guilty on August 17, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a two-count Information, charging him with possession of child pornography and voyeurism. He was sentenced by the Honorable Reggie B. Walton. Following his prison term, Blanco will serve 10 years of supervised release. In addition, Judge Walton ordered Blanco to pay $5,000 in restitution to an identified victim in one of the child pornography files.

            According to court documents, on March 30, 2022, an American University student caught Blanco surreptitiously recording her from an adjacent stall in a gender-neutral bathroom. The victim reported the offense to the American University Police Department, which obtained and executed a search warrant for Blanco’s dorm room. The police seized Blanco’s iPhone and laptop computer pursuant to that warrant. Before law enforcement could search Blanco’s iPhone, however, he remotely wiped it in an effort to obstruct the government’s investigation. Law enforcement was able to search Blanco’s laptop, which contained evidence of additional voyeurism offenses at American University.  It also contained over 1,000 media files constituting child pornography, some of which depict adult men raping prepubescent girls.

One week after his initial appearance in this case, Blanco violated his release conditions by downloading an application frequently used to access child pornography anonymously and by clearing the web history on his phone. Judge Walton revoked Blanco’s release conditions, and Blanco self-surrendered to U.S. Marshals in Orlando, Florida, on June 9, 2023. He has remained in custody ever since.

            The case was investigated by the FBI–MPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with valuable assistance from the American University Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul V. Courtney and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Larson.