A Boston man, previously convicted on serious sex offense charges, has been slammed with a 22-year prison sentence for using social media to exploit minors. Hector Acevedo, 33, from Jamaica Plain, was hit with the heavy penalty after pleading guilty to soliciting nude photos and sexual conduct from a minor, the Department of Justice announced yesterday. U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris delivered the sentence, which also includes five years of supervised release, following Acevedo's incarceration.
The DOJ states that Acevedo, who is a Level 3 sex offender, engaged in predatory behavior just months after his release from state prison. He brazenly reached out to a 13-year-old girl on TikTok, posturing as a 17-year-old boy to gain her phone number and then pressured her into sending explicit images and performing sexual acts on video chat. Acevedo's deplorable acts continued beyond this single incident as he adopted false identities, this time pretending to be a young girl, to lure other children across various platforms, soliciting nude pictures from them, according to the DOJ statement.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, made the joint announcement. Assistance in the case was also provided by the Arlington and Revere Police Departments, highlighting the collaborative effort to tackle such heinous crimes. Acevedo's conviction is part of Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ undertaking that aims to stem the tide of child sexual exploitation by joining forces at the federal, state, and local levels to identify and apprehend offenders and assist victims.
