Bakersfield Man Sentenced to Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography

FRESNO, CA—Fernando David Rangel, 20, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 78 months in prison for receipt of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Rangel pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography on January 13, 2014, and he was taken into custody on that date. Judge O’Neill today also imposed a term of supervised release of 15 years, during which the defendant will be required to register as a sex offender, and his access to minors, computers, and the Internet will be restricted.

“The FBI is committed to identifying and investigating individuals who threaten the innocence of our nation’s children,” said Special Agent in Charge Monica M. Miller of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Sacramento Division. “The images possessed by Rangel, over several years, involved real children who experienced great suffering at the hands of child predators. Rangel’s sentence is an important step, yet offers small comfort to the many innocent victims.”

According to court documents, the defendant admitted that on dates between April 1, 2012 and January 22, 2013, in Kern County, he knowingly used a computer to receive images of child pornography that had travelled across the Internet. The offense involved between 300 and 600 images of children being abused, and some of the images depicted prepubescent minors and/or violence.

The case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Bakersfield and Washington, D.C. Field Offices. Assistant United States Attorney David Gappa prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.