SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eduardo Castillo, the 39-year-old resident of Corning, has been caught in a sinister web of online exploitation. Today, he pleaded guilty to one count of online enticement of a minor for sexual purposes, as announced by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
Castillo had once fled to Mexico to dodge justice but was forcibly returned to the United States in August 2023. His return was a result of a collaborative effort between the FBI, Mexican law enforcement, and immigration officials.
The grim facts of the case reveal that Castillo, between July 13, 2020, and Aug. 27, 2020, used his cellphone and the internet to entice at least five minors into sending him sexually explicit images and videos. He posed as teenage girls on social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, using downloaded images of real teenagers to initiate conversations with his male victims.
In what appears to be a chilling promise, Castillo asked for child sexual abuse material in exchange for deleting the images and videos. However, he was secretly recording and saving the footage on his devices.
This case is the fruit of an investigation by the FBI, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise N. Yasinow handling the prosecution. Castillo now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a life sentence as the maximum statutory penalty, and a fine of $250,000. His actual fate will be determined by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on Sept. 9, 2024.
Castillo’s conviction is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project has been instrumental in identifying and prosecuting offenders, as well as rescuing victims. For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit Justice.gov/PSC.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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