Sacramento, California - A northern California man who once appeared on a television show discussing his compulsion to molest children has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Nicholas Torrieri, 43, of Redding, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Upon his release from prison, Torrieri will be required to register as a sex offender and will be supervised by the court for the rest of his life. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh F. Sigal prosecuted the case.
According to court documents, in October 2014 and again in January 2015, HSI special agents identified a computer offering files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct through a file-sharing network. The computer’s Internet Protocol address was traced to Torrieri’s residence. On Feb. 11, 2015, HSI special agents searched the residence and seized several digital devices. A subsequent forensic review of these devices uncovered more than 600 images and 240 videos containing child pornography.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered a videotape of a 1998 television talk show about how to protect children from sexual abuse. Torrieri appeared on the show and claimed that he had participated in hundreds of incidents of victimizing children, including both encouraging minors to expose themselves and actual molestation. At Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Mueller noted that he has “a compulsion that he has been unable to control.”
“Criminals who create and distribute pornographic images of children often fuel the behavior of like-minded predators who covet this despicable content. Innocent victims are left with permanent scars that can never be entirely healed,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge for HSI San Francisco. “This sentencing is a testament to the dedicated HSI agents and our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to root out predators and make them face the judgment they deserve.”
This case is a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
