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A 47-year-old Harlingen man has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison on a charge of child exploitation.
Authorities said Rico Giovani Machietto would have children in the Philippines send nude pictures of them to him and he would compensate their families by sending them money.
Machietto appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera Jr., who sentenced him to 80 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of child exploitation Oct. 5, 2021.
At the time of his plea, Machietto admitted that from Dec. 1, 2017, to June 1, 2018, he used Facebook to communicate with minor girls located in the Philippines, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a media release.
He requested nude photos of them and sent money as compensation to their families, authorities said. As a result of the investigation, law enforcement discovered Machietto possessed one video and 106 images of child pornography on his Apple computer.
Machietto has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined at a later date.
Homeland Security Investigations – Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation.
