Child Exploitation Offenses Tuesday, Share Facebook, Public Affairs Monico Erich — Fresno Man Sentenced for Child Exploitation Offenses | United States Justice Department.
The Court sentenced Gastelo to 40 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release, during which time Gastelo’s access to children, computers, and the internet will be restricted. He was also required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon his release from custody.court filings state, in January 2019, Gastelo created a social media account in which he pretended to be an 18-year-old boy to enhance his chances of connecting with minors. announcement Fresno Man Sentenced for Child Exploitation Offenses Tuesday, November 18, 2025 Share Facebook
X LinkedIn Email For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Monico Erich Gastelo, 44, of Fresno, California, was sentenced yesterday after being convicted of sexual exploitation of a child and receipt and distribution of child pornography. Gastelo used the account and others to converse with minors — some of whom disclosed that they were 12 years-old — and repeatedly demanded sexually explicit content from them.Between Jan. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California made the announcement.The Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, specifically the Fresno Police Department, the
Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.Trial Attorney McKenzie Hightower of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. 1, 2020, and March 23, 2020, Gastelo began communicating on messaging platforms with other individuals sexually attracted to children. He sent and received multiple images and videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on these platforms, describing the type of videos and images he preferred, including requesting videos of sex acts performed by toddlers. Forensic review of Gastelo’s phones revealed