Queens Sex Offender Exploited 5 Kids In Modeling Scout Scheme: Feds

JAMAICA, NY — A man from Queens who pretended to be a modeling scout so that he can sexually exploit five children could face life in prison, federal authorities said.

Davis Burgos-Collazo, 43, of Jamaica, was found guilty Wednesday of child pornography-related charges by a Brooklyn federal jury, prosecutors said.

The verdict was announced by Eastern District U.S. Attorney Breon Peace and Michael Driscoll, the assistant director of the FBI of New York.

“The defendant … deviously portrayed himself as a modeling scout to lure victims,” Peace said in a statement about Burgos-Collazo, who “repeatedly victimized minors without regard for the profound harm he was causing them.”

Twenty-six Instagram accounts were created by Burgos-Collazo in 2020 to attempt to sexually exploit children as young as 9-years-old, by writing that he was seeking “future models” and “preteen beauty pics,” according to court documents.

The defendant also had coerced one victim, 10, into performing live sex acts for him on Instagram, authorities said. After she pleaded with him to leave her alone, he threatened to post a naked picture of the child online for her friends to see, trial documents stated.

More than 100 photos and videos of child pornography were recovered on the defendant’s phone, FBI officials said.

Burgos-Collazo was registered as a sex offender in March 2006, after he was already convicted for raping a 7-year-old and for attempting to sexually assault a 9- and 11-year-old, according to court documents.

This prosecution of Burgos-Collazo is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat what authorities called a growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals use federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims, officials said.

In the end, jurors found Burgos-Collazo guilty of two counts of distributing child pornography, accessing child pornography with intent to view it and committing a felony sexual offense, which involved a minor while being a registered sex offender.

The conviction illustrates how vulnerable children are to sexual predators, Driscoll said in a prepared statement.

“The heartbreaking pleas from one of his victims to be left alone should shock parents and guardians,” Driscoll said. “Please talk with children about the dangers they can face online, and tell them they can ask for help if they face a similar situation.”

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit projectsafechildhood.gov.