By Joe Anuta
A Flushing pedophile who sexually abused children for years, including two of his nephews, will be locked up for three decades, a federal judge said Friday.
Felix Cartagena, 27, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release in Brooklyn federal court by Judge Carol Amom for sexually assaulting children as young as 2 years.
Cartagena was arrested in September 2010 and later admitted to a disturbing sexual incident with a toddler and peddling other child pornography on the Internet.
“The defendant abused innocent children and then continued that violation by broadcasting those images over the Internet,” said U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch. “Those who commit such crimes are on notice that they face severe penalties.”
Cartagena was caught by FBI agents who found pornography on Cartagena’s computer, court documents said. When questioned by agents, Cartagena admitted to numerous acts of rape and sexual assault on victims 12 years old and younger. He also admitted to distributing images of his crimes on the Web.
Two of the victims were members of his extended family, while two others were family friends who he came into contact with by baby-sitting, court documents said.
“The victims in this case will live with the impact of the defendant’s crimes for a lifetime,” Lynch said in court documents, arguing for a 50-year-sentence. “He sexually assaulted these children for years. The defendant went to great length to record the repeated sessions of rape and sexual abuse inflicted on his victims.”
Cartagena was initially charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of a child by a grand jury in October 2010. In March 2011, he pleaded guilty to one of those counts and also to distribution of child pornography.
“He preyed on the most vulnerable and defenseless of victims: young children and babies,” Lynch said.
Cartagena has been in custody ever since his arrest.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
