SNOW HILL — A Silver Spring, Md. man, who pleaded guilty last month to sexually soliciting and sending images of child pornography to a local girl in April, was sentenced to two years in jail in Worcester County Circuit Court.
On April 2, the Maryland State Police forwarded a case involving child pornography and solicitation to the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI). Detectives met with the complainant, the father of a 14-year-old girl who had allegedly been sexually solicited and sent pornography images by a suspect identified as Hector Ochoa-Barrios, 28, of Silver Spring.
WCBI detectives assumed the identity of the 14-year-old victim and continued communication with Ochoa-Barrios. The suspect again sexually solicited whom he thought was the juvenile and expressed an interest in meeting her to engage in various sexual activities.
Detectives arranged to meet with Ochoa-Barrios in Snow Hill and Ochoa-Barrios traveled over two-and-a-half hours to meet the victim and arrived in Snow Hill and was taken into custody. He was charged with two counts of sexual solicitation of a minor, child pornography promotion and distribution, possession of child pornography and identity fraud, the latter for allegedly using a false Social Security number.
During a subsequent interview, Ochoa-Barrios admitted to having a sexual interest in young females and to downloading and having child pornography on his cell phone and on a tablet in his vehicle. He also admitted possessing and using a Social Security number that did not belong to him.
Ochoa-Barrios is classified as a “non-immigrant overstay” and he has been entered into the immigration system. In August, Ochoa-Barrios pleaded guilty to sexual solicitation of a minor, possession and distribution of child pornography and identity fraud. Back in court on Wednesday for sentencing, Ochoa-Barrios was sentenced to 10 years with all but two years suspended for the sexual solicitation of a minor count, and another 10 years with all but two suspended for the possession with intent to distribute child pornography count. As to the identity fraud count for using a false Social Security number, Ochoa-Barrios was sentenced to one year, which was suspended. Ochoa-Barrios was also fined $500 and placed on supervised probation for five years upon his release from jail.