A 33-year-old Hawaii man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison by a federal judge in Missouri for the sextortion of a 14-year-old Missouri girl and sharing explicit images of other young girls in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
Gerardo Javier Montes was sentenced Thursday in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, for one felony count of distribution of child pornography.
Montes traded “child sexual abuse material with others online, including images of his former girlfriends when they were minors” and other child victims whom he provided with money, gift cards, clothes, sexual toys or electronics in exchange for nude images, according to the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Montes was arrested on July 29, 2022, in Honolulu by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman said at the time that Montes had an “extensive history involving the sexual exploitation of minor females” and that he used online messaging boards dedicated to depression and suicide to find victims.
Montes had been indicted on July 27, 2022, for cyberstalking girls in Hawaii, Texas, Oklahoma, California and Missouri to produce and distribute child pornography.
The Hawaii girl was 13 years old at the time Montes victimized her.
An anonymous online tip led the FBI to investigate and resulted in tracing the sextortion to Hawaii. There is no federal statute for sextortion, and prosecutors use an array of existing statutes to prosecute sextortion cases.
FBI agents warned local residents earlier in March that sextortion was on the rise in Hawaii and across the country.
In exchange for Montes’ guilty plea on count 1 of the three-count indictment, the government agreed not to bring any further federal prosecution on counts 2 and 3 for production, distribution, receipt or possession of child pornography and cyberstalking between December 2021 and January 2022.
U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced Montes on Thursday.
Montes created posts and made comments online in teen-focused Reddit groups, and combed online groups dedicated to the discussion of depression and rape fantasies.
He also admitted seeking child sexual abuse material from other minors online, according to a statement from Sayler A. Fleming, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Between Dec. 6, 2021, and Jan. 14, 2022, Montes communicated with the 14-year-old Missouri victim via Reddit.
“At one point, she sent him an image of herself in a bra and a picture of herself topless. Montes requested more pictures from the victim. She later told Montes her full name,” said Fleming. “On Jan. 13, 2022, the victim tried to cut off contact with Montes. He threatened to post nude photos of her on multiple social media sites and send those images to ‘every school in the state.’”
On Jan. 15, 2022, Montes sent images of the victim to someone else via the Discord messaging platform.
“We are not only holding Gerardo Montes accountable for his crimes, we have stopped him in his tracks from exploiting more victims,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division in a statement. “Montes spent significant time hunting and manipulating young girls who were vulnerable to his abuse. Children in our community are safer today with Montes behind bars.”
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman prosecuted it.
To report sextortion, contact local law enforcement or the FBI by calling 800-CALL-FBI, contacting your local FBI office or reporting it online at tips.fbi.gov or cybertipline.org.
