Clearwater Man Sentenced for Distribution of Child Pornography

TAMPA, FL—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that U.S. District Judge James S. Moody, Jr. today sentenced Natanael Osvaldo Terrero (34, Clearwater) to 15 years in federal prison for distribution of child pornography. The court also ordered Terrero to a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.

Terrero pled guilty on June 13, 2011.

According to court documents, between June 2010 and October 2010, Terrero distributed child pornography via the Internet and possessed child pornography on his computer. Terrero distributed child pornography to undercover law enforcement officers on at least seven different dates

The 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 (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov and click on the tab “other resources.”

This case was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate, and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacie B. Harris.