Justice Department press release: “Ruben Verastigui, 29, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 151 months in prison on a federal charge of receipt of child pornography. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).”

“Verastigui pleaded guilty on July 9, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Amit P. Mehta. Upon completion of his prison term, Verastigui will be placed on five years of supervised release. He also will be required to register as a sex offender for at least 15 years. According to the government’s evidence, from April 2020 through February 2021, Verastigui was active in an online group devoted to trading child pornography and discussing child sexual abuse. Verastigui shared child pornography videos with another member of the group and made numerous comments about sexually abusing children. Verastigui indicated his preference for babies, saying they were his ‘absolute favorite,’ and solicited another group member for videos of babies being raped. The other group member promptly sent Verastigui a video of a baby being raped, to which Verastigui responded enthusiastically. The other group member then sent Verastigui numerous other videos of child pornography.”