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Hastings Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography
MINNEAPOLIS—In a shocking case of child exploitation, 25-year-old Mark Matthew Cortes of Hastings, Minnesota, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography.
United States District Judge Ann D. Montgomery handed down the sentence on one count of production of child pornography, which carries a lifetime of supervised release. Cortes was indicted on December 3, 2012, and pleaded guilty on April 9, 2013.
According to the court documents, Cortes admitted to knowingly persuading a minor under the age of 12 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images of such conduct on his cellular telephone. He also admitted to transferring the images from his phone to his computer and distributing them to another person. Furthermore, Cortes admitted to committing a sexual act with the victim during production.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Child Exploitation Task Force, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp prosecuted the case.
The production of child pornography is a serious offense, and the Justice Department is taking a stand against it. In addition to prosecuting cases like this, the Justice Department is funding a study to explore the correlation between involvement in child pornography and hands-on sexual abuse of children.
A 2008 study published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.
This case 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. Led by U.S. Attorney offices and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identify and rescue victims.
Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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