Man gets 17 years for child porn, extortion

A San Francisco man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for making pornographic videos of his lover, a minor, and later threatening to post them unless the youth resumed their relationship.

Krishna Viramontes, 37, who was sentenced Wednesday, pleaded guilty in February to possessing and conspiring to produce child pornography and extortion. He admitted taking the videos of the youth, who was 15 when they met in 2016. When the teen broke up with him later that year, Viramontes sent him a series of messages, later obtained by prosecutors.

One sample message, in court records, read in part, “Don’t play with me. ... Every time you come over you’re on camera.” Another said, “I hope your parents like the video footage they see.”

Officers searched Viramontes’ home and found more than 450 child pornography videos, prosecutors said.

The conviction of “revenge porn” extortion carried a mandatory sentence of at least 15 years in prison. Prosecutors sought a 30-year term, the standard term recommended for the charges in federal sentencing guidelines.

Viramontes “did more than possess child pornography. He created it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Kreuzkamp said in a court filing.

But Viramontes’ lawyer, Chief Assistant Federal Public Defender Geoffrey Hansen, said it was a case that “began innocently,” as a “close and loving relationship” and that Viramontes lost control when it ended. While Kreuzkamp said Viramontes had known the youth was 15 when they met, Hansen said the minor looked older than 18 and told Viramontes he was over 18, and that Viramontes believed him.

Hansen argued for the minimum 15-year term. The court’s Probation Department recommended 17 years, and U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco imposed that sentence.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko