BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A South Florida teacher will spend more than six years in a federal prison after being convicted of possessing child pornography.
The United States Department of Justice issued this advisory on Monday:
A federal district judge in Miami has sentenced 27-year-old Hialeah resident Roberto Ortiz to 78 months’ imprisonment, followed by eight years of supervised release, for possessing approximately 1,700 images and 40 videos of child pornography.
From 2019 until his arrest on July 30, 2020, Ortiz worked as a mathematics teacher at American Senior High School, a public school in South Florida. Prior to that, Mr. Ortiz served as a teacher at Jose Marti High School in Miami and at Youth Co-Op Preparatory Charter School in Hialeah, a school which includes students as young as five.
Based on information presented to the court, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant for Ortiz’s home after their investigation determined that a computer user at the residence was downloading and sharing child pornography by means of peer-to-peer file-sharing software. Pursuant to their search, agents seized several electronic devices from the home, including a laptop belonging to Ortiz. A forensic analysis of that laptop revealed over 1,700 files of child pornography.
On April 13, Ortiz pled guilty to possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke imposed the sentence.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the sentence.
FBI Miami investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sajjad Matin prosecuted it.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
