A Bronx man, Daniel Batista, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for enticing a minor and possessing child pornography. The sentencing was delivered by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman after Batista pleaded guilty earlier this year.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton commented on the case, stating, “Daniel Batista paid a mother to create child pornography of her own daughter. He then used that child pornography both to gratify himself and to try to convince other parents to do the same. Today, the victims, families, and all New Yorkers get justice. Batista’s sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes and our commitment to combat child sexual exploitation.”
According to information from court documents and public proceedings, Batista’s probation officers discovered more than a dozen deleted videos and images of child pornography on his cellphone in February 2024 while he was on probation for a previous conviction involving forcible touching of a minor on an MTA bus. Some of these images involved a specific prepubescent victim identified as Minor Victim-1.
Investigators found that in early 2024, Batista paid over $1,000 to Minor Victim-1’s mother in exchange for creating and sending him child pornography featuring her daughter. Voice messages revealed that Batista communicated directly with Minor Victim-1 at times and encouraged her to make explicit videos for him. He also sent two images depicting Minor Victim-1 to another parent in an attempt to persuade them to produce similar material involving their own children.
In addition to his prison sentence, Batista, age 57 and a citizen of the Dominican Republic, received ten years of supervised release following his incarceration.
U.S. Attorney Clayton recognized the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its work investigating the case.
The prosecution was managed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Rosenberg from the Office’s General Crimes Unit.
