Pedro Rios, Child Exploitation, New Jersey 2015

NEWARK, N.J. – In a shocking revelation, a Newark man has admitted to recording his sexual abuse of a young girl, leaving the community in shock. Pedro Rios, 59, pleaded guilty to Counts One through Five and Count Seven of a superseding indictment charging him with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Rios admitted to inducing a girl under the age of 12 to engage in sexually explicit conduct on five separate dates between March 4, 2008, and November 8, 2011. The defendant also admitted to possessing images of child sexual abuse on February 5, 2013.

Several of the videos charged in the superseding indictment depict Rios’s abuse of the child victim in the cab of a tractor trailer truck. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child to which Rios pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.

The possession of child pornography charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Rios will be required to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is scheduled for July 7, 2015.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel; the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray; and the N.J. Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory with the investigation leading to today’s plea.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Danielle Alfonzo Walsman and Jonathan W. Romankow of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Newark. Defense counsel Brian J. Neary Esq., Hackensack, New Jersey, represented Rios.

Pedro Rios, Defendant/Respondent REAL full name, is a 59-year-old resident of Newark, New Jersey. The exact criminal charges against him are sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. The city and state where the crime occurred are Newark, New Jersey. The exact date with month/day/year of the crime is between March 4, 2008, and November 8, 2011. The sentence or outcome is pending sentencing on July 7, 2015.

The defendant faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine for each count of sexual exploitation of a child. The possession of child pornography charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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