Man pleads guilty to child pornography, sex trafficking

SPOKANE – A Warden man pled guilty to production of child pornography and child sex trafficking, pursuant to a plea agreement, March 31.

Senior District Judge William Fremming Nielsen will decide whether to accept the plea agreement during a sentencing hearing set for July 6.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Washington, Carlos Salgado Velasquez, 30, engaged in conduct with four minor females that constituted both the production of child pornography and child sex trafficking from September 2016 through September 2018. Velasquez admitted to knowingly taking part in sexually explicit conduct with the minors for the purpose of producing visual depictions of the sexually explicit conduct. Velasquez also admitted engaging in commercial sex acts with the minors by soliciting them to engage in sexual intercourse in exchange for things of value. Velasquez solicited the minors by arranging to meet them using various internet communications platforms.

Officers with the Moses Lake Police Department, the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the United States Department of Homeland Security investigated the case, which was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood.