A 36-year-old Millbrae man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, after prosecutors say he used the messaging app Telegram to obtain the images and paid foreign sellers for access to groups trading the content.
Gianbernardo Florendo pleaded guilty on June 26 to receipt of child pornography and possession of pornography, according to KRON4. The station reports that between March 2022 and August 2023, Florendo used Telegram to receive the material, sending payments via PayPal to foreign sellers of child sexual abuse material to gain access to groups and chats on the app that contained it. A U.S. Department of Justice press statement, cited by the FBI San Francisco
field office, said Florendo was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.
KRON4 reported that he was sentenced Friday, November 6. An FBI San Francisco post published November 7 described the sentencing as happening “today,” a day later. Prosecutors said Florendo had hundreds of CSAM videos and images on his phone, and that he would also engage in sexualized chats while pretending to be a minor, per the same account from KRON4.
Judge Adds Five Years of Supervised Release
U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson handed down the prison sentence and also ordered five years of supervised release once Florendo completes his time behind bars, KRON4 reported. The outlet’s account of the case draws on court documents outlining the scope of Florendo’s activity on Telegram over roughly a year and a half.
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 2252 states that a person who violates, attempts, or conspires to violate certain provisions involving the sexual exploitation of minors faces not less than five years and not more than 20 years in prison. The statute does not specify how it was applied in Florendo’s particular case.
FBI Says It Remains Focused on Online Exploitation
In the post announcing the sentencing, the FBI said it remains committed to identifying and holding accountable those who exploit children online. The post, shared from the FBI San Francisco account, which is based in San Francisco, California, pointed to court documents describing how Florendo paid foreign sellers for access to the material and accumulated hundreds of images and videos.
The case involved federal prosecution tied to Florendo’s use of Telegram to access child sexual abuse material.
