United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

DERBY MAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 11 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID L. MENDEZ, age 47, of 30 Atwater Avenue, Derby, Connecticut, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 135 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography.

On March 4, 2004, MENDEZ pleaded guilty, acknowledging that in the Summer of 2003, he used his computer and the internet to distribute to an undercover FBI agent images of young girls engaging in sexual activity with adult men. According to court records, on September 22, 2003, MENDEZ sent the undercover agent a message in which he described sexual acts that he performed on two different minor girls. On October 17, 2003, FBI agents executed a search warrant and seized MENDEZ's computer. After gathering additional evidence establishing that MENDEZ engaged in sexual activity with young girls, ages 9 and 12, FBI agents obtained a warrant for MENDEZ's arrest. MENDEZ has been detained since his arrest on that date.

At this morning's sentencing proceeding, Judge Thompson found that MENDEZ's conduct in abusing the two young girls warranted acceptance of the Government's motion for an upward departure from the United States Sentencing Guidelines of 97 to 121 months. Judge Thompson also placed several special conditions upon MENDEZ's term of supervised released, ordering that MENDEZ not loiter in areas where children are known to congregate, that he not participate in or take a leadership role in any youth group activities, and that his internet use be monitored by the U.S. Probation Office.

As noted at today's court proceeding, MENDEZ also faces charges in state court.

"We are pleased with the strict sentence that Judge Thompson has imposed, and with the conditions that he place upon Mr. Mendez's term of supervised release," U.S. Attorney O'Connor stated. "The federal government remains steadfast in our commitment to help protect children by vigorously prosecuting individuals who commit these insidious crimes."

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation is and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brian E. Spears.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov