Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Of Children

US Attorney's Office
San Juan
Press Release

SAN JUAN, P.R. – United States District Court Judge Francisco A. Be-
sosa sentenced José Luis Otero-Otero to 210 months (17 years and 6 mo-
nths) in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for sex traffick-
ing of children, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States
Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Otero-Otero had plead guilty on
November 4, 2016.

According to the Plea Agreement filed on November of 2016, the defen-
dant sexually abused and/or engaged in illicit sexually explicit conduct
with at least four male minors. Otero-Otero knowingly recruited, enticed,
harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patro-
nized and solicited by any means two 12 year-olds, one thirteen and one
fourteen year-old male minors, knowing and in reckless disregard of the
fact that they were minors and caused them to engage in commercial sex
act.

The Government’s version of facts states that the defendant paid the male
minors between twenty and eighty dollars to engage in sexual acts. Otero-
Otero paid the victims in order for them to allow him to perform oral sex
on them and also for the minor males to penetrate Otero-Otero anally.

“Justice was done today. This sentence should serve to reassure the pu-
blic that we are paying close attention to the well-being of our children,
and that we will spare no expense to take child predators off the streets,”
said U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “All child sexual pre-
dators will be held accountable for the unspeakable crimes they commit
and the harm they cause to their victims and their families.”

Project Safe Childhood is an initiative of the Department of Justice aim-
ed at preventing the abuse and exploitation of children by the use of digi-
tal cameras, computers and other digital and electronic media.

The criminal prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elba
Gorbea. ICE-HSI was in charge of the investigation with the collaborati-
on of the Puerto Rico Police Department.