FT. LAUDERDALE, FL – On Wednesday, July 1, 2020, U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Adrian Fierros, 22, from California, to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for coercing young girls into taking and sending him sexually explicit photographs and videos of themselves. Making good on a threat to one of his victims, Fierros shared nude photographs of the 11-year-old girl with six of her school friends, one of whom was nine-years-old.
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, make the announcement.
According to court records, Fierros contacted his victims on social media. Most of the children were under 14-years-old. Fierros’ tactic with the young girls was to “friend” them on social media, tell them they were pretty, and have the girls send him suggestive photographs of themselves. Then, Fierros would extort the minors into taking and sending him nude photographs, in poses that he selected. Defendant threatened the minors with sharing their nude pictures with their family and friends if the minors stopped sending him increasingly explicit sexual images. When one of his 11-year-old victims stopped communicating with Fierros, he did just that. He sent nude pictures of the minor to her school friends, whom he identified through the victim’s social media contacts.
One of Fierros’ victims told her parents about Fierros’ demands. This prompted a South Florida law enforcement investigation. Officers located Fierros in California and arrested him. On January 8, 2020, Fierros pled guilty in South Florida federal court to producing child pornography, distributing child pornography, and on-line extortion.
U.S. Attorney Fajardo-Orshan commends the investigative efforts of FBI, and, in particular, FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force who worked in partnership with the Coral Springs Police Department on the matter. The U.S. Attorney also thanks FBI Los Angeles, and FBI Headquarters, Operation Rescue Me for their assistance. Special Assistant United States Attorney M. Katherine Koontz prosecuted this case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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