A Beaufort man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. Leonardo Rubio, 23, was sentenced by United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks to 168 months in prison, followed by a life term of court-ordered supervision.
The evidence presented to the Court showed that Rubio sought, received, produced, and distributed images, videos, and files containing child pornography using multiple cell phones, data storage devices, the Kik social media messaging application, and Dropbox online cloud storage.
Rubio’s crimes were discovered after Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) special agents received a NCMEC CyberTip from Dropbox, which indicated Rubio had uploaded at least 10 images containing child pornography to their cloud service.
During a forensic examination of devices seized from Rubio, analysts located a total of 26,114 images and 1,505 videos containing child pornography involving prepubescent male and female victims ranging in age from 3 months to 14 years old.
Rubio also admitted to distributing between 150 to 200 images of child pornography to other individuals using the Kik messaging application and to sexually assaulting an 8- or 9-year-old relative, as well as photographing himself engaged in sexual contact with his wife’s 7-year-old relative when he was approximately 16 years old.
Rubio must pay $69,000 to the 23 victims seeking restitution in this case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Related Federal Cases
- Leonardo Rubio, Possession of Child Pornography, South Carolina 2021 · Arkansas
- Jonathan Reece Scarborough, Production of Child Pornography, South Carolina 2019 · South Carolina
- Michele Mancino, Child Pornography Production, South Carolina 2022 · Arkansas
- Kevin Ray Stephenson, Possession of Child Pornography, South Carolina 2024 · South Carolina
- Scott Eric Fernquist, Receiving Child Pornography, South Carolina 2023 · South Carolina
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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