Rosemont Man Who Abused 3-Year-Old Girl And Fled To Mexico Sentenced

CHICAGO — A Rosemont resident who was extradited from Mexico to the United States to face federal child pornography charges nearly three years ago was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison.

Marcos German Mendez, 35, pleaded guilty in March to one count of production of child pornography, which is punishable by a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.

According to court records, Mendez admitted to repeatedly molesting a speech-delayed 3-year-old girl multiple times in 2016 while having a secret relationship with her grandmother, a co-worker who was more than 20 years his senior.

Mendez took more than 60 sexually explicit photographs of a child, who he molested while she appeared to be sleeping at his home in Rosemont. He admitted he then saved the child sexual abuse material on his iPhone, according to his plea agreement.

Back in 2016, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of using a minor to produce child pornography, one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography on his cell phone.

Prosecutors said Customs and Border Protection Officers searched him, in part, due a previous child solicitation arrest. Customs officers spotted videos and photos of child sexual abuse material on his phone and downloaded its contents but allowed Mendez to leave the airport after arriving on a flight from Ecuador via Panama City.

After the search, Mendez used his work phone to research child pornography statutes, how to remotely wipe his iPhone 6 and law enforcement electronic forensic tools, among other things, according to a sentencing memo.

Mendez told the victim's grandmother that he had gotten in trouble because of viewing child sexual abuse material in Ecuador. He said he had previously been convicted for charges relating to meeting an underage girl online and getting her to send pictures of herself to him.

"I’m a pedophile," Mendez told her, according to prosecutors.

Mendez then fled to Mexico with the help of his mother, Maria Ramos and father Marcos Mendez Sr., authorities said.

"[Mendez's] prior counsel assured the government on two occasions in 2016 that defendant would be returning to the United States to voluntarily surrender. He never did," said Assistant United States Attorney Misty Wright, arguing for a 30-year sentence. "Instead, the United States and Mexican governments worked to extradite defendant to face charges for his crimes for nearly four years."

Mendez was arrested in July 2019 in the city of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In an affidavit, he said he was held at Reclusorio Norte prison in Mexico City for more than seven months leading up to his extradition.

During his first few weeks there, Mendez said he was attacked and beaten twice by guards and three times by gang members because he did not pay "taxes" to the two groups.

Mendez alleged he was first held with 20 to 40 other inmates in a cell with room for six people and no toilet or beds. He later was moved to a four-man cell with nine other inmates, where he slept on the floor with rats and cockroaches, he said.

"In November and December 2019, I was attacked and beaten again for not making the payments required of me. I was regularly in fear for my life throughout my time at Reclusorio Norte," Mendez said.

"Since arriving at MCC Chicago, I have also been repeatedly threatened by other inmates based on the nature of the charges against me. I remain in fear of being attacked by other inmates," the admitted child molester said in the sworn statement.

Mendez's attorney Marko Duric asked for Mendez to be sentenced to the statutory mandatory minimum sentence.

"Fifteen years of imprisonment will be sufficient to deter Mr. Mendez, who has never been to prison before and will serve a much more difficult sentence than other inmates. Concerns about recidivism may be addressed through the intensive conditions of supervised release that Mr. Mendez will be required to follow after he is released in his middle age," Duric said.

"Ultimately, this offense requires a significant punishment, but a term of imprisonment longer than 15 years would be greater than necessary and inconsistent with the principles of parsimony and proportionality that must guide a court at sentencing," the defense attorney argued in a sentencing memo.

According to federal authorities, the investigation was conducted as part of Operation Predator, an international initiative of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. In the 2019 fiscal year, the initiative led to the arrests of more than 3,500 child predators by HSI special agents, according to ICE representatives.

U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland ordered prosecutors and Mendez's attorneys to work together to schedule the restitution portion of the hearing by mid-January.