Man who exploited more than 100 young girls online sentenced to 34 years in prison
PHOENIX - A man has been sentenced to over 34 years in prison for production of child pornography and cyberstalking after exploiting and victimizing more than 100 young girls, with at least two of them being from Arizona.
Ruben Rosales, 27, used an online account to coerce a 14-year-old girl in Arizona to send more than 600 sexually explicit photos of herself, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Federal authorities say the Mexican national blackmailed her into sending more inappropriate photos by threatening to send - and by actually sending - images to her family and classmates.
On another occasion, the 27-year-old coerced an 18-year-old Arizona high schooler to send him nude photos online. He threatened to make a porn site to post the images if she stopped sending him more pictures, officials said.
An investigation revealed that Rosales had exploited more than 100 victims, most of them minors, since 2015. More than 80 victims were identified in the United States and in several other countries.
Some girls were as young as 12 years old, officials said.
Rosales was arrested in Mexico back in 2019 and was extradited to Arizona in May 2020.
Homeland Security and Goodyear Police conducted the investigation.