The former leader of the Salvation Army in the Black Hills was sentenced to 17 and a half years in federal prison for child pornography.
Former captain Javier Moreno, 41, faced a maximum sentence of 20 years after pleading guilty last December to receiving child pornography. Prosecutors dropped a charge of possession of child pornography in exchange for his guilty plea.
In addition to the 17.5 years in prison, Federal Judge Jeffery Viken ordered Moreno to spend 8 years on probation, register as a sex offender, have no contact with children under 18 and follow any assigned treatment program.
Moreno will also pay compensation to his victims, but a decision on this has been postponed for 3 months until the two parties reach an agreement regarding the victims. While 28 victims seek compensation, prosecutors say there are potentially thousands more – identified and unidentified.
Moreno was serving in the Salvation Army in Detroit when he came to Rapid City in 2019 as the Black Hills area coordinator. The child pornography investigation began with a cyber tip that investigators linked to an account at the Salvation Army camp west of Rapid City, where Moreno lived.
The IP addresses were also connected to a wireless account associated with Moreno’s work phone. The social media platform provided content from his accounts and a search warrant led to the seizure of 33 electronic devices and his arrest in June last year.
According to court testimony, Moreno was in possession of over a million images of child pornography showing at least 28 different victims. Judge Viken said the footage he saw as part of the sentencing was among the most violent and gruesome he had seen in his 33 years as a lawyer or judge.
Moreno confessed that he had been watching and collecting child pornography for 2 decades and sent some of it to other people. Several members of his family, including his now ex-wife, spoke on his behalf during the sentencing, saying they support him, pray for him and love him.
The defense asked for the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, citing Moreno’s decades of public service and childhood incidents that his lawyers say started him on the road.
