Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Exploitation and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas resident pleaded guilty Wednesday to exploiting children and possessing hundreds of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, between December 2024 and January 2026, Mohammad Shoaib Taraki sexually exploited two children in his care by producing sexually explicit visual depictions of each child.

From about December 2024 and continuing to about January 2026, Taraki also possessed over 600 images and videos of CSAM depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, infants and toddlers, and minors under the age of 12. Taraki admitted that he sent 53 videos of CSAM using his two Snapchat accounts, and that he received 21 videos and one image of CSAM from other users on Snapchat.

Taraki pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography.

Chief United States District Judge Andrew P. Gordon set sentencing for August 26, 2026. The statutory maximum penalty for each count of sexual exploitation of children is 30 years in prison and the statutory maximum penalty for possession of child pornography is 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto for the FBI Las Vegas Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Afroza Yeasmin is prosecuting this case.

This case is a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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