FRESNO, Calif. – A federal grand jury has returned a three-count indictment against Andrew Michael Alonso, 31, of Fresno, charging him with sexual exploitation of a minor, receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and committing a felony offense involving a minor while being a registered sex offender, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced today.
According to court documents, Alonso is a registered sex offender who was on California parole supervision with GPS location monitoring. He contacted a 13-year-old victim on Instagram and then communicated with the victim through text messages in May and June 2021. Alonso repeatedly asked the victim to create and send to him images of the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Alonso received still and video images of the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He has been ordered detained as a danger to the community and risk of flight.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno office of Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa is prosecuting the case.
If convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor, Alonso faces a statutory penalty of 15 to 30 years in prison, a potential $250,000 fine, and a possible lifetime term of supervised release. If convicted of being a registered sex offender who is convicted for sexual exploitation of a minor, Alonso faces a mandatory 10-year consecutive sentence in prison. If convicted of receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Alonso faces five to 20 years in prison, a potential $250,000 fine, and a possible lifetime term of supervised release. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.
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