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Day care owner Silfredo Castillo Martinez sexually abused an 11-year-old, authorities said. (Mug shot: New York Police Department)
A New York day care operator pleaded guilty on Thursday to sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy in his care. The Department of Justice said in a press statement that Silfredo Castillo Martinez, 34, possessed almost 10,000 image of child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, Google gave the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children a tip on April 25, 2022, that a user had uploaded what appeared to be child sexual abuse material.
Authorities used the Google account to track down the defendant at his home on Decatur Avenue in the New York City borough of the Bronx. From there, he ran a day care, licensed to care for children aged 6 weeks to 12 years old.
When investigators executed a search warrant at his home, they seized electronic devices that contained about 9,800 images of child sexual abuse material in addition to images and video depicting the 11-year-old’s abuse.
Investigators determined that the abuse happened in Castillo Martinez’s bedroom.
Silfredo A. Castillo Martinez was arrested for possessing multiple pornographic images of sex acts w/ children. The man was employed at a day care center at 3525 Decatur Ave #1AA & 1 AB from July 2011 to May 2022. If you have further info on him, call/DM @NYPDTips at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/YAIRl6111r
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 31, 2022
In speaking to authorities post-Miranda, the defendant admitted uploading the abuse material to his Google Drive account, documents stated.
Castillo Martinez faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 in his sentencing to take place June 25.
“Silfredo Castillo Martinez exploited the trust placed in him as a day care provider by sexually abusing one of the minor children under his care and by forcing that child to perform sex acts on him,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York. “Additionally, Castillo Martinez had nearly 10,000 images depicting child pornography in his possession, all the while caring for children on a daily basis. Castillo Martinez’s conduct is reprehensible, and he now faces more than a decade in prison for his crimes.”
