A Red Bluff man has been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison after being indicted by a federal grand jury in February on two counts of sexual exploitation of children and distribution of visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of California announced Monday that 28-year-old Ricardo Gutierrez received the sentence in federal court. He had previously pled guilty to the felony charges in June.
In April 2024, Gutierrez reportedly used four children to create at least two videos of the children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to federal court documents. In addition, between November 2023 and July 2024, he allegedly distributed through social media several videos and images of prepubescent children, including infants, involved in sexually explicit conduct.
Law enforcement was initially made aware of the situation by a woman Gutierrez met on a dating app, Tinder, with whom he shared an unsolicited photo of a young girl and a short video of child sexual abuse, and asked if the woman had access to young girls.
Beyond distributing explicit material, the U.S. Attorney’s office stated Gutierrez possessed over 4,800 files depicting sexual abuse of children.
The U.S. Attorney’s office stated the case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and was part of Project Safe Childhood. The project was founded in May 2006 to fight increasing sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Gutierrez faced a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison, with a minimum mandatory of 15 years, supervised release for life, restitution and a $250,000 fine.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, 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.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet-safety education.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitnee Goins is prosecuting the case.