A Broward man who admitted he traveled to South America and had sex with child prostitutes blamed what he called the Colombian culture for tempting and corrupting him when he was sentenced to prison Tuesday. Dennis De Jesus, 46, of North Lauderdale, pleaded guilty to federal sex tourism and child pornography possession charges earlier this year.
He admitted he traveled to Colombia for sex with two girls, ages 14 and But at his sentencing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, De Jesus told the judge that he had tried to live a "normal life" but was tempted by "the consenting practices of that people and culture.
The judge sentenced De Jesus to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release. He also ordered De Jesus to undergo sex offender treatment, barred him from having contact with children other than his relatives, and ordered him to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. In April, De Jesus pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, two counts of enticing or coercing underage girls into sexual activity and one count of possession of child pornography.
He was arrested in October in an international undercover investigation of a sex-trafficking ring that exploited child prostitutes in three cities in Colombia, according to Homeland Security Investigations.
Authorities had received a tip that De Jesus was one of several U. A male informant, who was working undercover with law enforcement, became Facebook friends with De Jesus, and the two men exchanged instant messages on the social networking website. De Jesus told the informant that he had sex with underage teen prostitutes and had recorded at least one child pornography video while visiting the country.
