Jakob Nieves, Sexually Exploiting Children, Massachusetts 2019

BOSTON - Jakob Nieves, a 19-year-old Lawrence resident, has been accused of sexually exploiting a 4-year-old child.

Nieves, who also goes by Dakota, was arrested last night and charged today in federal court in Boston with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography.

According to the charging document, Nieves allegedly communicated with a federal agent, acting in an undercover capacity, via Kik messenger. During the course of those communications, Nieves sent the undercover agent images and videos that depicted her sexually abusing a child.

When law enforcement executed a search warrant at Nieves' home on August 14, 2019, she admitted to distributing images and videos of child pornography to a user she 'met' in a Kik group geared toward individuals interested in pedophilia.

The charge of sexual exploitation of children provides for a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and no greater than 30 years in prison. The charge of distribution of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison. Each charge provides for a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Nieves appeared in federal court in Boston today and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday, August 20, 2019.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/lawrence-resident-charged-sexually-exploiting-children