Woke Report
2024-08-20 14:48:12 UTC
Former GOP Hill aide pleads guilty in child porn case
By Josh Gerstein
07/09/2021 10:36 AM EDT
A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide pleaded
guilty Friday to a child pornography charge and is facing 12 years or
more in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors.
Ruben Verastigui, 27, entered the guilty plea from jail during a video
conference hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta in
Washington, D.C.
Verastigui admitted to possession of 152 videos and 50 images of child
pornography and to receiving and distributing sexual depictions of
children.
According to an affidavit filed in the case in February by a Department
of Homeland Security investigator, Verastigui sought out images of rape
of children during an online chat last year. Prosecutors said Verastigui
also fantasized online about killing children while abusing them.
The investigation, focused on a ring of at least 18 people trading child
pornography via a chat group on an unnamed website, appears to have
zeroed in on at least one other political staffer in Washington.
Last November, a Trump Commerce Department political appointee, Adam
Hageman, was arrested on charges he shared a child pornography video and
commented on sexually abusing children. Hageman appears to have been set
to enter a guilty plea in April, but court records do not indicate that
hearing was ever held.
Mehta accepted Verastiguis guilty plea, but deferred a decision on
whether to accept the roughly 12-to-15-year sentencing range prosecutors
and Verastigui agreed to. Sentencing in his case is set for Oct. 12.
Prosecutors said earlier this year that Verastigui could also face
charges in Arizona over his online conduct, but the plea agreement he
signed with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, D.C., precludes
further charges in that state.
Verastigui worked as digital director for the Joint Economic Committee in
2018 and as digital strategist for the Senate Republican Conference from
2019 to 2020, congressional payroll records show. He was also on the
payroll of the RNC from 2017 to 2018, according to Federal Election
Commission reports.
By Josh Gerstein
07/09/2021 10:36 AM EDT
A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide pleaded
guilty Friday to a child pornography charge and is facing 12 years or
more in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors.
Ruben Verastigui, 27, entered the guilty plea from jail during a video
conference hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta in
Washington, D.C.
Verastigui admitted to possession of 152 videos and 50 images of child
pornography and to receiving and distributing sexual depictions of
children.
According to an affidavit filed in the case in February by a Department
of Homeland Security investigator, Verastigui sought out images of rape
of children during an online chat last year. Prosecutors said Verastigui
also fantasized online about killing children while abusing them.
The investigation, focused on a ring of at least 18 people trading child
pornography via a chat group on an unnamed website, appears to have
zeroed in on at least one other political staffer in Washington.
Last November, a Trump Commerce Department political appointee, Adam
Hageman, was arrested on charges he shared a child pornography video and
commented on sexually abusing children. Hageman appears to have been set
to enter a guilty plea in April, but court records do not indicate that
hearing was ever held.
Mehta accepted Verastiguis guilty plea, but deferred a decision on
whether to accept the roughly 12-to-15-year sentencing range prosecutors
and Verastigui agreed to. Sentencing in his case is set for Oct. 12.
Prosecutors said earlier this year that Verastigui could also face
charges in Arizona over his online conduct, but the plea agreement he
signed with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, D.C., precludes
further charges in that state.
Verastigui worked as digital director for the Joint Economic Committee in
2018 and as digital strategist for the Senate Republican Conference from
2019 to 2020, congressional payroll records show. He was also on the
payroll of the RNC from 2017 to 2018, according to Federal Election
Commission reports.