HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Hawaii man was sentenced Thursday in the sextortion case of a Missouri teenager.
Authorities said Gerardo Javier Montes was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Missouri judge for his illegal relations with a 14-year-old girl and the distribution of explicit images of minors.
Montes shared pictures of his former girlfriends online when they were minors, lawyers said, along with pictures of other child victims to whom he gave money, gift cards and other goods. The other victims included girls from Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado.
Other evidence against him included disturbing online comments in group forums about depression and rape fantasies, according to the Justice Department.
From December 2021 to January 2022, he spoke online via Reddit with a young 14-year-old victim in Missouri, officials said. She thought Montes was 21 but later learned he was 31. The conversations became increasingly sexual and led to the exchange of images.
When she tried to end the communication, Montes threatened to publish the pictures, according to authorities.
The FBI was called in after receiving a tip about this sextortion case and was able to trace it back to a racketeer in Hawaii. Authorities eventually moved in, conducted a court-ordered search of his home, and seized electronic devices containing sexual abuse material.
Montes, now 33, pleaded guilty in March to the serious crime of distributing child pornography.
“Not only have we held Gerardo Montes accountable for his crimes, we have also deterred him from preying on further victims,” said Chris Crocker, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Charger with the FBI’s St. Louis Division. “Montes spent a lot of time preying on and manipulating young girls who were vulnerable to his abuse. The children in our community are safer today with Montes behind bars.”
Anyone wishing to report sextortion should contact local law enforcement or the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. The incident can also be reported online at tips.fbi.gov or cybertipline.org.
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