Man Gets 28 Years In Prison After Sexually Exploiting Girl, 11: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A Uniondale man was sentenced on Thursday to 28 years in prison for sexually exploiting minors, the Feds announced.

Edgardo Mejia was charged with causing an 11-year-old girl ("Jane Doe 1") to create numerous sexually explicit videos of herself, as well as at least two sexually explicit images of Jane Doe 1's two-year-old niece, all of which was sent to Mejia, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace announced.

Mejia pleaded guilty in August 2022. He was arrested on January 25, 2018, in Port Washington by Homeland Security Investigations and Nassau County police. He had been detained since then, prosecutors said.

As outlined in the government’s sentencing memorandum and other court documents, on February 20, 2017, Facebook reported several cybertips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding social media accounts that were being used to sexually exploit female minors. One account was under the name “Bryan Gonsalez” and two other accounts were under the name "Eddie Mejia," federal prosecutors said.

Further investigation by law enforcement determined that the electronic device being used to access the accounts was registered Meija's address in Uniondale. Mejia was using the accounts to communicate with numerous minors, sending them explicit images of himself and enticing them to engage in sexually explicit conduct and send him images of such conduct, Peace said.

This prosecution is 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.