Fort Pierce - Tuesday August 13, 2024: In Fort Pierce Monday U.S. District Court Judge David S. Liebowitz sentenced 28 year old Luis Escoto to 20 years in a federal prison on charges of producing child pornography. Escoto's prison term will be followed by 15 years of supervised release.
This past May Escoto, of Port St. Lucie, pled guilty to producing visual depictions showing the sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to court documents, between November 2022 and January 2023, when Escoto was 26 and 27 years old, he engaged in sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old in St. Lucie and Martin counties. Escoto recorded the sexual interactions with the minor using his cellphone. He then convinced the victim to send him sexually explicit pictures through text messages and other communication platforms.
In February 2023, Martin County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Escoto after he showed up at a location thinking he was going to have sex with a minor. However he had been texting with an undercover detective who posed as a minor.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Fort Pierce and the Martin County Sheriff Offices investigated the case. Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger prosecuted it.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami, and Sheriff William D. Snyder of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office announced the sentence.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.