Miami Jury Convicts Tennessee Man of Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Minor and Attempted Production of Child Sexual Abuse Material

MIAMI - A Tennessee man was convicted by a federal jury on Feb. 24 of attempting to sex traffic a minor living in Colombia and attempting to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involving the victim.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Ramon Arellano Sandoval, 65, of Antioch, Tennessee, exchanged thousands of text and video messages with a female victim living in rural Colombia who was only 14 years old at the time. Despite knowing the victim was underage, Sandoval repeatedly solicited sexually explicit videos from her and directed her to produce CSAM, often in exchange for electronic payments. Sandoval also traveled to Colombia to engage in commercial sex with the minor victim.

"The jury's verdict delivered justice for a 14-year-old victim who was targeted and exploited by a 65-year-old man who knew exactly what he was doing," said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. "The evidence showed that this defendant pressured a child to create sexually explicit videos and even traveled overseas to abuse her. That conduct is predatory, criminal, and intolerable. The Southern District of Florida will continue working with our federal partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute anyone who seeks to exploit children online or anywhere else."

The jury found Sandoval guilty of attempted sex trafficking of a minor and attempted production of visual depictions of the sexual exploitation of a minor. He faces up to life in federal prison for attempted sex trafficking and up to 30 years for attempted production. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tim Farina and Camille Smith are prosecuting the case.

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.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., under case number 24-cr-20519.

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