Source: Office of United States Attorneys
HAMMOND – Abigail Dawes, 30 years old, of East Chicago, Indiana, and Alfonso Rodriguez, 30 years old, of Chicago, Illinois, were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to Producing Visual Depictions of A Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Dawes, sentenced February 1, 2024, and Rodriquez, sentenced today, were both sentenced to 300 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.
According to documents in the case, on or about June 2022, Dawes and Rodriquez produced child sexual abuse material.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip C. Benson and Emily Morgan.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.