justice

Registered Sex Offender Held on Federal Child Pornography Charges

Registered Sex Offender Held on Federal Child Pornography Charges

PROVIDENCE, RI – A registered sex offender living in Providence has been ordered detained in federal custody on charges he allegedly possessed and distributed child pornography, and allegedly transferred obscene material to a 14-year-old female.

Michael Llorca, 47, of Providence, was ordered detained on Thursday by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan on a federal criminal complaint charging him with one count each of transfer of obscene material to a minor, possession of child pornography with the intent to view and distribution of child pornography. Llorca was arrested Thursday by members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, following a three-month investigation culminating with the execution of a court-authorized search of his residence.

The arrest and detention of Michael Llorca is announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Michael S. Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations for New England.

According to court documents, it is alleged that in October 2017, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information that an individual allegedly had sent sexually explicit text messages and illicit images to a minor female via an application with which users can communicate and share images via text messages. The NCMEC report was reviewed by a member of the ICAC Task Force who determined that the IP address allegedly used to send the text messages and photographs belonged to Michael Llorca.

According to court documents, it is alleged that after members of the ICAC Task Force identified Llorca’s IP address as having allegedly been used to send the sexually explicit text messages and illicit images, a member of the ICAC Task Force allegedly observed a computer or other device using the same IP address to share files of suspected child pornography on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.

On Thursday, members of the ICAC Task Force executed a federal court-authorized search of Llorca’s Providence residence and seized, among other items, sixteen electronic media storage devices consisting of seven laptop computers, six smartphones, two Apple iPods and two SD cards. Also seized was approximately two grams of heroin.

According to court documents, Llorca is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of rape of a child in Massachusetts in August 1997.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.

The Rhode Island State Police ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit, special agents from Homeland Security Investigations and United States Postal Inspection Services, and detectives from the Warwick, Cranston, Newport, East Providence, Pawtucket, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, Woonsocket, Bristol and Bristol Police Departments.

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