Florida man who traveled from Florida to Western New York to have sex with a minor going to prison

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Jose Francisco Cardoso Tehovnik, 23, of Orlando, Florida, who was convicted of receipt of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 132 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan K. Glaberson, who handled the case, stated that in February 2024, Cardoso Tehovnik, who was 21 years old at the time, began communicating with a 16-year-old minor victim on social media. Between February 2024 and April 2024, the minor victim sent a video file and two image files depicting the minor victim to Cardoso Tehovnik, each of which constituted child pornography.

In late April 2024, Cardoso Tehovnik flew from Florida to the Western District of New York and rented a hotel room to meet the minor victim in person. On April 27, 2024, the minor victim met Cardoso Tehovnik in the hotel room and the two engaged in sexual intercourse. Between April 2024 and June 2024, Cardoso Tehovnik continued to communicate with the 16-year-old victim on social media. On June 4, 2024, Cardoso Tehovnik again traveled to the Western District of New York to meet the minor victim. Cardoso Tehovnik picked up the minor victim from her school and left the district with the minor victim, intending to take her to Florida. Law enforcement located Cardoso Tehovnik with the victim in New Jersey and Cardoso Tehovnik was arrested and taken into custody.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Philip Tejera, the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Superintendent Nicholas Ligammari, with assistance from the Beach Haven, NJ, Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Markoski.

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