PSL man who used phone to record sex with a minor girl faces 30 years in federal prison
FORT PIERCE — A Port St. Lucie man who federal authorities say befriended a minor girl at his Jensen Beach restaurant job faces up to 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to using his iPhone to record sex acts the two engaged in, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and court records.
Luis Escoto, 28, who appeared Thursday before U.S. District Judge David S. Leibowitz at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, pleaded guilty to one count of “production of visual depictions of sexual exploitation of a minor,” court records show.
Currently in custody as a federal detainee at the St. Lucie County Jail, Escoto faces seven additional state charges in Martin County, stemming from a joint-law enforcement investigation that resulted in Escoto’s federal arrest in February 2023.
The case against Escoto began a month earlier, when the victim’s mother contacted a Martin County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer at Jensen Beach High School to report she found messages on her 17-year-old daughter’s phone requesting that she send nude images, as well as nude photos she had taken of herself.
The mother also found a text thread between her minor daughter and Escoto, according to a federal criminal complaint submitted by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Eric Urgo.
The girl knew Escoto as a co-worker at a local restaurant when the sexual activity occurred beginning in October 2022, federal filings show.
In reviewing the girl’s phone, Martin County Sheriff’s investigators learned the two planned to engage in sexual activity at Pineapple Park in Jensen Beach after school on Jan. 31, 2023. Using her phone, a detective posed as the girl and agreed to a location where to meet Escoto, who told her to turn off her phone so her parents couldn't track her, federal court records show.
When Escoto arrived at the park, deputies used their vehicles to "box in" his car and detained him.
Once in custody, Escoto admitted meeting the girl when she was 17 and he was either 26 or 27 years old. He told investigators they engaged in sex "at least five times in both Martin County and St. Lucie County."
He also admitted asking her for nude photos "for sexual pleasure," which he saved on his phone, federal investigators reported.
He further admitted using his iPhone to record sex acts between the two.
When Escoto is sentenced on Aug. 2 before Judge Liebowitz, in Fort Pierce, he faces a mandatory 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, according to arrest filings.
He’s also due to appear June 6 before Martin County Circuit Judge William Roby, who presides over his state charges, records show.
Escoto has pleaded not guilty to four counts of lewd or lascivious touching, offender over 24, with a victim age 16 or 17; and one count each of lewd computer solicitation of a child; traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual activity; and promoting the sexual performance by a child.
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: PSL man used phone to record sex with a minor girl; faces 30 years
