Marcos German Mendez, Child Pornography, Illinois 2024

A Chicago area man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.

Marcos German Mendez, 35, of Rosemont, Illinois, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal child pornography charge.

Mendez admitted in a plea agreement that on two occasions in 2015 he took more than 60 sexually explicit photographs of a three-year-old child and molested her while she appeared to be sleeping.

The images were saved on his iPhone, and in 2016, Mendez fled to Mexico. He was later arrested and extradited to the United States.

U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland imposed the sentence on Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and R. Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Misty N. Wright.

According to officials, the sentence was the result of a collaborative effort between HSI’s Mexico City office; FBI Chicago Field Office; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Postal Service; Cook County Sheriff’s Office; and U.S. Marshals Service.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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