Yaisel Rodriguez Gets 20 Years for Child Porn Production

Yaisel Rodriguez, 25, of Cape Coral, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for producing child pornography—locking away a predator caught red-handed during an FBI raid. The conviction marks one of 103 child exploitation cases brought by the Middle District of Florida in Fiscal Year 2016 under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.

Agents from the FBI were executing a search warrant at Rodriguez’s home when he admitted to investigators that he had just ended a two-year sexual relationship with a minor. A forensic examination of digital devices recovered from the residence uncovered explicit images and videos Rodriguez had created, confirming the production of child pornography—a charge that carries some of the harshest penalties under federal law.

From October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016, federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Florida charged more than 100 defendants with crimes including attempted enticement of a minor, possession and distribution of child pornography, and child sex trafficking. Rodriguez’s case, prosecuted out of the Fort Myers division, highlights the raw brutality of online predators who exploit children behind the veil of digital anonymity.

The investigation was a joint effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and multiple local agencies—including the Cape Coral Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. Such coordination underscores the multi-layered crackdown on child exploitation networks.

Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown served as the district’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, overseeing the strategy behind these prosecutions. The Rodriguez case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily C. L. Chang, part of a team of federal prosecutors dedicated to dismantling child sexual abuse operations across the state.

Since 2006, the Middle District of Florida has charged over 950 defendants in connection with child exploitation. U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III reaffirmed the office’s commitment: “We will continue to make the prosecution of these cases a top priority.” For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.