Palm Bay Woman Convicted Of Production Of Child Pornography

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Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that a federal jury has found Rose Beth Litzky (33, Palm Bay) guilty of conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, involving two female children. Both of the victims, toddlers at the time, were under Litzky’s care. Litzky faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison on the conspiracy and production counts, and up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the possession charge. In addition, Litzky must forfeit an iPhone that was used in furtherance of the offenses. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 15, 2019.

Litzky was indicted on September 26, 2018.

According to evidence presented at trial, on September 15, 2016, Litzky’s boyfriend, Roberto Oquendo, was the subject of a traffic stop. During the traffic stop, deputies from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Oquendo was possibly in possession of child pornography. As a result, task force agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations interviewed Oquendo. Oquendo disclosed to the agents that he had used a cellphone to take pictures of the genital area of two young children under his custody for his sexual gratification.

Further investigation led to the seizure and search of several computers and cellphones from a place in Brevard County where Oquendo had hidden them. Through forensic analysis, investigators found that one of his cellphones contained deleted chats between Litzky and Oquendo where they had discussed taking sexually explicit images and videos of the two children. The forensic evidence revealed that between October 2014 and September 15, 2016, Litzky caused the two children to engage in sexually explicit conduct while chatting with Oquendo through a social media app that allowed Oquendo to see the children in the nude for his sexual gratification. Some of the images depict Litzky as she caused the children to engage in sexual conduct. At the time the images were produced, Oquendo resided in Virginia, and Litzky resided in Florida. Oquendo created hundreds of screenshots of the visual depictions and transported them to Brevard County, where they were found on his cellphone.

Agents interviewed Litzky about the sexual exploitation of the children and she admitted to producing hundreds of visual depictions of the children in the nude that she then sent to Oquendo via text messaging for his sexual gratification. Litzky’s iPhone was searched and found to contain child pornography.

In January 2019, Oquendo pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison on each count. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 26, 2019.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.