St. Lucie County Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography

Fort Pierce – Tuesday, August 13, 2024: On Monday, U.S. District Judge David S. Liebowitz in Fort Pierce sentenced 28-year-old Luis Escoto to 20 years in federal prison on charges of producing child pornography. Escoto’s prison sentence will be followed by 15 years of supervised release.

Last May, Escoto, of Port St. Lucie, pleaded guilty to creating visual depictions of the sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to court documents, between November 2022 and January 2023, when he was 26 and 27 years old, Escoto had sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old in St. Lucie and Martin counties. Escoto recorded the sexual interactions with the minor on his cell phone. He then convinced the victim to send him sexually explicit images via text messages and other communication platforms.

In February 2023, detectives with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrested Escoto after he showed up at a location thinking he was going to have sex with a minor. However, he had been texting an undercover detective posing as a minor.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Fort Pierce and Martin County Sheriff Offices investigated the case. Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger prosecuted it.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Miami, and Sheriff William D. Snyder of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office announced the sentence.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.