American Falls man sentenced for enticing underage girls

A 20-year-old American Falls man has been sentenced to 300 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for enticing and coercing two underage girls. Jesus Nieto pleaded guilty to the charge on March 2 in U.S. District Court in Pocatello. He was sentenced Tuesday, according to acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez. According to a plea agreement, Nieto used Internet-based social media to communicate with the girls, aged 11 and 15, to solicit sexually explicit pictures and to persuade and coerce them into engaging in sexual intercourse with him. According to the agreement, Nieto said he communicated with the girls from approximately November 2015 to January 2016. Evidence introduced at sentencing indicated Nieto had engaged in unlawful sexual activity with other underage girls as well. The case was part of a program called Project Safe Childhood. The nationwide initiative was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The case was investigated by the American Falls Police Department, with the assistance of the Power County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.