By The Diary
Sep 12, 2024, 00:40 AM EDT
David Burgos Collazo was sentenced to 45 years in prison for luring several minors to send him explicit photographs and videos by posing as a modeling agent, a federal judge in Brooklyn (NYC) ruled.
The 45-year-old defendant received the mandatory minimum sentence on Thursday, after a jury found him guilty in 2022 of a “truly horrific” spree of child exploitation, as described by a federal prosecutor, he noted. Daily News.
Burgos Collazo was already a registered sex offender at the time of these crimes: in 2006 he was convicted of raping a 7-year-old girl and attempting to sexually assault two others, ages 9 and 11.
He then used dozens of Instagram accounts in early 2020 to convince several girls between the ages of 7 and 11 that he was a modeling scout, then asked them to send him sexually explicit images. He also used blackmail to force at least one of his victims to continue talking to him and engage in weekly video calls.
When she responded, “I’m tired of doing this, I just want to be 9 and live my life so please leave me alone,” he threatened her, “Next post you’ll be naked,” according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors sought a life sentence for Burgos Collazo. “He didn’t just target minors. He targeted very young, prepubescent children,” said prosecutor Rachel Shanies. “He threatened to embarrass them. He blackmailed them. … We believe that a life sentence is absolutely necessary to protect society and children.”
Federal prosecutor Breon Peace called Burgos Collazo a “master manipulator and sextortionist” in a statement. “The defendant has been shown to be an extremely dangerous predator who, as a registered sex offender, forced a 10-year-old girl to perform sexual acts for him on Instagram and threatened her when she begged him to leave her alone. And, sadly, she was not the only vulnerable victim.”
In a similar case, a New York City corrections officer was charged last month with posing as a TV producer to lure a 20-year-old woman to his Queens home and molest her.
The number of sexual assaults committed by strangers has increased in NYC, as well as domestic rapes. And the cases are usually higher since most rapes remain unreported.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has been warning since 2020 about an increase in cases of child pornography due to the increased time spent online by adults and children using social media.
In January, New York City Police (NYPD) officer Angad Beharry and Gisianet Christina Chirinos Viloria were arrested and charged on suspicion of sexually exploiting a 9-year-old girl. Also that month, an elderly Westchester County (NY) resident was indicted on federal charges of sexually exploiting minors using the Snapchat app.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if you are a minor or an elderly person:
Seek help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Check information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org