Sexual Exploitation Of Kids Gets Alexandria Man Prison Sentence

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An Alexandria man was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of two children.

Prosecutors say Abel Ambrocio, 55, of Alexandria, also a Mexican national, developed an online relationship with a woman in Honduras in March 2018. Between October 2018 through at least February 2019, Ambrocio asked the woman to record and send him over 100 images of herself sexually abusing two children. The victims of the child pornography were a 3-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.

During the chats, Ambrocio instructed the woman to send images of specific sexual acts with the minor victims, according to an affidavit. At one point, the woman advised Ambrocio the girl was hurting and crying. In March 2019, Ambrocio distributed images of the woman sexually abusing the 3-year-old boy over social media.

The investigation began when Fairfax County Police Department received a tip in June 2019 about possible child pornography exchanged between Facebook accounts. Facebook sent the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children seven images showing inappropriate sexual contact between an adult woman and 3-year-old boy. One of the accounts was linked back to an IP address located at a Lincolnia address, and the other account came from Honduras.

After police obtained a search warrant for the Lincolnia address in September 2019, the residents advised their neighbor, Ambrocio, had their internet password and used it to access the internet. In October 2019, detectives interviewed Ambrocio, where he admitted a woman he met online sent him pictures and videos of herself and two minors. In a February 2020 interview with detectives, Ambrocio said he asked the woman to send images to prove she was involved in sexual contact with her children.

Ambrocio was previously charged with production of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. The mandatory minimum penalty was 15 years in prison, and the sentence could have been a maximum of 50 years. He will serve 22 years in prison with a lifetime of supervised release.