Photo Courtesy of Twitter
Keith Liwanag
By Forum Staff
A Rego Park man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for producing child pornography, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday.
Keith Liwanag, 27, pleaded guilty last June to sexual exploitation of a child. Upon completion of his sentence, he must register as a sex offender.
According to officials, in September and October 2016, Liwanag used a Facebook account to direct women in the Philippines to engage in sexual acts with children in exchange for money, and to produce and send child pornography over Facebook’s private messaging service. On Sept. 8, Liwanag sent several messages to a woman asking her to sexually abuse a six-year-old boy as part of a “show” in exchange for money. Three days later, Liwanag sent and received messages from another woman about a “show” with the woman’s son and offered her money to perform a sex act on him. On Oct. 12, Liwanag sent a message to a third woman soliciting photographs of the sexual abuse of her child. In response, on Oct. 27, the woman sent Liwanag two images depicting child abuse.
As set forth in court filings, the evidence obtained during the course of the investigation includes 10 recorded video conferences between Liwanag and women engaged in the sexual abuse of children.
“Liwanag paid others to victimize children for his own pleasure,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge Angel Melendez. “His use of women in the Philippines to exploit children for the production of child pornography is not just criminal, it’s evil. Because of the great work of law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office, he will now serve 15 years for his unfathomable acts, facing the full justice of his actions behind bars.”
