Franklin Jovany Torres, a convicted sex offender already in prison, was given an additional 16 months after he sent threatening letters to the mother of his underage victim. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the new sentence was issued last Wednesday and will be added to his current 21-year term.
Torres, 42, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of mailing menacing communications on August 27. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly presided over the plea. "I’m going to get out one day, and when that day comes is when you are going to shed tears of blood because that day I’m going to get rid of your whole family – cousins, nephews and nieces, granmother, children – even the dog at your home I’ll get rid of," read the letter written in Spanish, which Torres sent from a Federal Corrections Institute in South Carolina, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Back in March 11, 2015, Torres was convicted of multiple offenses, including the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography, as well as first degree sexual abuse of a minor. The crimes earned him a sentence of 252 months after a jury trial. It was uncovered that Torres had lived with the victim’s family after they had offered him shelter when he lost his job. During this period, he abused the teenage boy and posted a naked photo of him, with the face obscured, on Facebook, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The FBI investigated the case after a mother and son reported sexual abuse when they found a photo on Torres’ Facebook page; “The boy victim’s parents had allowed Torres to stay in their apartment after Torres lost his job and needed a place to stay,” as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James B. Nelson in D.C. After Torres was convicted, released, and deported to El Salvador, he made threats from prison. Special Agent in Charge Darren B. Cox and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the sentencing, and the press release was published later due to a government shutdown.
