Orlando Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Sexually Exploiting a Minor

ORLANDO, FL—U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced German Paz (33, Orlando) to 15 years in federal prison, followed by a life term of supervised release for sexually exploiting a minor. The court also ordered Paz to forfeit the computer he used to commit the offense. Paz pleaded guilty on March 15, 2011.

According to court documents, in January 2006 Paz began chatting with a 13-year-old on giaionline.com, an Internet website and forum for Internet gamers. Paz used the screen name “The Delightful Deviant.” Initially, Paz chatted with the minor victim about an Internet game, but then engaged the minor victim in sexually explicit conversation. Paz persuaded the minor victim to establish an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) account so that they could chat in private. He also persuaded her to give him her telephone number. Over the course of the next year, through December 2006, Paz enticed and persuaded the minor victim to photograph herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct and to send the photographs to him using her AIM account. During this time, Paz told the minor victim that he wanted to marry her when she turned 18 years old. He instructed the minor not to tell her mother about their relationship.

In or about May 2010, Paz again contacted the victim over the Internet. The victim, who was now 18 years old, reported Paz to the FBI. On June 25, 2010, the FBI interviewed him at his home. Paz admitted to knowing the victim, and to previously having an “online relationship” with her when she was 14 years old. Paz consented to the search and seizure of his computer, and told the agents that he still had the pictures of the minor victim on his computer. Agents reviewed the computer, located the images of the victim, and seized the computer.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

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 exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.