Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, United States District Judge Gary R. Brown sentenced Manuel Geovanny Torres Rivas to 25 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child.  As part of his sentence, Torres Rivas must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and not have unsupervised contact with minors.  The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge in January 2022.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael Alfonso, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), announced the sentence.

“Today’s sentence removes a dangerous predator and is only possible due to the bravery of two young girls, who came forward to the authorities about the defendant’s disturbing behavior online, which then helped protect the community and end the abuse of another girl,” said U.S. Attorney Peace. “I urge parents and caregivers to encourage their children to tell a trusted adult if anyone asks them to engage in inappropriate behavior. Protecting children and holding those who harm vulnerable victims accountable for their actions will always be priorities of our Office.”

“Torres Rivas, a hands-on offender who sexually abused a child entrusted to his care, utilized multiple social media accounts to contact children online, sending them explicit content and distributing child sexual abuse material,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso.  “Today’s sentence takes a predator off the street and ensures Torres Rivas will no longer be able to victimize the most innocent members of our community.  HSI, along with our partners at the Nassau County Police Department Special Victims Unit, is committed to hunting down child sexual predators and will continue to use our authorities to protect children, physically and virtually.”

Torres Rivas targeted multiple minor females on Snapchat, where he engaged them in sexually explicit conversations and sent them unsolicited videos and images of child pornography.  For example, in September 2019, Torres Rivas used the Snapchat account “Geovanny_z6134” to contact a 13-year-old resident of Connecticut.  Torres Rivas, a stranger to the girl, described his own sexual abuse of a 9-year-old and sent the girl an unsolicited video depicting a child estimated to be between 8 and 10 years old engaged in sexual conduct.  Later, in June 2020, Torres Rivas uploaded to Snapchat more than two dozen videos and images of child pornography, some of which contained graphic depictions of child abuse and involved small children believed to be under the age of 5.  Additionally, the defendant used the Snapchat account “Geovr19” to contact an 11-year-old resident of Nevada, to whom he made statements concerning his molestation of a 9-year-old girl and sent the child sexually explicit photos of himself. 

This information came to light after the 13-year-old girl from Connecticut reported the contact to school officials, who then contacted local law enforcement, and the 11-year-old girl from Nevada reported the conduct to local law enforcement.  Snapchat reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that approximately 28 videos and images containing child pornography had been uploaded to the platform using the defendant’s Snapchat account.  After tracing these Snapchat accounts to the defendant’s Hempstead residence, law enforcement officers searched the premises and recovered evidence that he had videotaped several sexual encounters with a 9-year-old girl who had been entrusted to his care.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Bagnuola is in charge of the prosecution.

MANUEL GEOVANNY TORRES RIVAS Age:   27 Hempstead, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-494 (GRB)

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