Man who made child sex abuse videos gets 57 years
Unknown girl, 6 or younger, seen in one
A man who made videos of himself having sex with children, including one of an unknown girl estimated to be 6 or younger, was sentenced by a judge this week to 57 years in prison.
A jury in June found Jordan Padilla, 34, guilty of 25 felony counts related to “the prolific sexual abuse of children,” New Mexico Attorney General Hector Baldaras said in a written statement.
Jerri Mares, a spokeswoman for the AG’s office, said Padilla must serve a minimum of 48 years in prison due to mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.
Second Judicial District Judge Cindy Leos handed down the sentence on Tuesday. She also ordered Padilla to pay restitution to be deducted from his prison wages for children harmed by the abuse.
Efforts remain ongoing to identify the unknown girl in the video, according to the AG’s sentencing memorandum.
Padilla’s attorney, Jack Mkhitarian, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment.
Padilla’s practice of making photos and videos of his abuse of children gave prosecutors some of their most potent evidence in the trial, according to court records.
That evidence, gathered from cellphones, computer hard drives and other devices, includes a video of Padilla sexually abusing a girl, identified only as “Jane Doe,” who is estimated to be 4 to 6 years old, according to the sentencing memorandum.
Padilla “intentionally creates, possesses and uses these materials to gratify his own sexual desires,” prosecutors wrote. “These images and videos were interspersed with personal documents, school files, and wedding photos.”
Many of the videos were found on a hard drive plugged into a television, it said. Padilla “categorized this abusive material using the title ‘Loli,’ an abbreviation of ‘Lolita,’ a term commonly used by child predators online.”
A 2nd Judicial District jury convicted Padilla on June 25 of one count of criminal sexual penetration of a child under 13, a first-degree felony.
Padilla’s other convictions include 13 counts of manufacturing visual medium of sexual exploitation, two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor, one count of false imprisonment, and other charges.