A Puerto Plata court issued a 15-year jail sentence to Giuseppe Sgarbi, an Italian citizen for operating a child pornography network from the Dominican Republic. Sgarbi will serve his sentence at the San Felipe prison. The network had been operating in the Caribbean since the 80s.
The case against Sgarbi was based on evidence in the case of two teenagers, ages 16 and 17 years old. When arrested in his residence, digital evidence of pornographic images of children ages 11 to 16 years was collected. Also investigators interviewed multiple other victims who said they were encouraged to visit Sgarbi at his home where he prepared the pornographic material. He was sentenced for violating Arts 1, 3 and 7 of the Illicit Trafficking in Persons Law 137-03 and Arts 396, 410 and 411 of the Child Protection Code Law 136-03 and Art. 24 of the High Tech Crimes Law 53-07.
Judge Osvaldo Bonilla said the ruling seeks to send a message to other foreigners who use the country for these atrocities against vulnerable children.
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Diario Libre
12 March 2018
