Three-time repeat child predator sentenced to more than 37 years

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A man with three convictions for sexually assaulting minors has been sentenced in Providence U.S. District court to serve 447 months in prison for a series of 2019 charges.

Jesus Maldonado, 61, formerly of Waterbury, Conn., pled guilty to attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor and to having committed these felony offenses involving a minor while he was required to register as a sex offender.

Maldonado was previously convicted for three separate instances of sexually assaulting minors, one of whom he impregnated, and another he attempted to transport over state lines to assault.

He was also convicted in a separate case for failing to register as a sex offender, according to the office of United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

With his most recent conviction, Maldonado was found to have “sent explicit messages to and attempted to prey on what he believed to be a child.”

“But instead of a child, he was speaking to a detective with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, leading to his arrest and his significant sentence today,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations, New England.

Maldonado was found to have engaged in sexually explicit online and text messages with who he believed was a 13-year-old girl named Jeni.

He told “Jeni” that he wanted to make her his wife, sent her sexually explicit images and attempted to persuade her to meet him to engage in sexual activity.