Fernando Morales, Sex Exploitation of Children, Idaho 2017

A 50-year-old Nampa man has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for the sex exploitation of a minor.

Fernando Morales, 50, of Nampa pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children in United States District Court in Boise. The crime occurred between 2015 and 2016.

According to the plea agreement, a 16-year-old minor living at Morales’ residence called 911 on August 23, 2016. The minor victim informed arriving officers that Morales had sexual contact with them for several years and had nude images of the minor victim on his cell phone.

Morales admitted to having sex with the minor victim on numerous occasions, beginning in approximately June of 2015 in El Paso, Texas. He also recorded videos and pictures of himself and the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct, which were saved on his cell phone.

Nampa Police detectives seized several electronic devices from Morales, which were analyzed by a computer forensic agent with the Department of Homeland Security. The analysis resulted in the discovery of 23 videos and 21 still images of the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Morales will be sentenced before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill on March 27, 2017. Sexual exploitation of children is punishable by a mandatory minimum 15 years, and up to 30 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, not less than five years and up to lifetime supervised release, and a $5,000 special assessment.

Morales also agreed to forfeit two cell phones and a laptop computer used in the commission of the offense. The case was investigated by the Nampa Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, with assistance from the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office, and was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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