A 33-year-old Honolulu man will spend 40 years in federal prison after he was sentenced Thursday for grooming four minor girls online to make sex films, and possessing child pornography involving kids as young as 4.
Daniel Michael Brito, 33, is a “dangerous predator,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca A. Perlmutter told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in an interview after the sentencing. Brito’s 40-year sentence, handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson, exceeds the federal sentencing guidelines.
Once released from federal prison, he will remain on supervised release for the rest of his life. Brito also will pay $3,000 to each of the four young girls he victimized.
Brito, aka John Michael Brito, was convicted in state court in 2018 of third-degree sex assault, a Class C felony, after he had sexual contact with his niece. He was sentenced to one day in jail, was on Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation With Enforcement, or HOPE, program for five years and registered as a sex offender.
Upon completing probation, he was permitted to have unsupervised visits with his three daughters.
The investigation into Brito began after an electronic device from a 14-year-old runaway contained evidence that he was pimping his 8-year-old daughter for hotel sex parties, showers and sex with his neighbor.
“This substantial sentence reflects the horrifying fact that while on probation for sexually assaulting a child family member, Brito victimized at least four additional children,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors. “No child should suffer the incalculable damage from such abuse, and we will continue to identify perpetrators, prosecute them and help victims find healing through the justice system.”
Brito used social media applications to lure four minor girls “for the purpose of producing and attempting to produce and receiving child pornography,” according to a plea agreement Brito entered into with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Brito began his deviant behavior in January 2019 and continued until October 2021.
“This sentence highlights how important it is to the FBI and our community to protect our keiki from predators such as Brito who, despite being a registered sex offender, continued to victimize others,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill. “The public should know that we will continue to vigorously pursue and investigate those who prey on our children and bring them to justice.”
Brito entered a guilty plea to producing child pornography as part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
His attorney, Victor J. Bakke, did not immediately reply to a Star-Advertiser request for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Perlmutter and Christine Olson prosecuted the case.
To deceive young girls online, he used the screen names “aloha_danny” and “Hidannyhi.”
Brito “used, persuaded, induced and enticed” a minor victim he knew to be under 18 years of age to send him sexually explicit content that he produced into child pornography. He also asked a 13-year-old girl to create content, requesting specific lewd behavior and videos containing a lot of footage, according to a plea agreement filed Nov. 2.
Brito, who is not originally from Hawaii, started grooming one of his minor victims when she was 12.
According to an affidavit by an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a search of Brito’s electronic devices “found images and videos of child pornography.”
“The forensic data extraction of Brito’s cellphone recovered approximately 8,615 videos and 53,175 images and a full review of Brito’s cellphone pursuant to the search warrant is ongoing,” the agent wrote. “Not all of the videos and images recovered from Brito’s cellphone contained child pornography. Some images/videos contained adult pornography or other innocuous images/videos.”
One of the videos found by the FBI agent showed a child between 12 and 14 having sex with an adult man, and agents also found child pornography involving children under the age of 9.
In one video, Brito is seen masturbating with a ittle girl leaning against his thigh.
