US: Indian-origin man sentenced for life for sexually exploiting girl

New York: An Indian origin man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for engaging a girl in sexual conduct and also filming the whole act.

Deepak Deshpande aged 41 has pleaded guilty to the charges levelled against him in October last year and was sentenced to life imprisonment and 30 years imprisonment for filming the child pornography by US District Judge Carlos Mendoza on Thursday

The accused reportedly contacted the girl in Orlando in the year 2017 pretending to be a modelling agent through an online chat application and persuaded her to send him her nude images.

Later after establishing contact with the girl, Deshpande contacted the same girl, posing as a different individual and also threatened to disseminate her nude images if she did not continue producing additional child pornography for him.

In the month of September the same year he flew to Orlando in Florida from California to meet the girl in person for the first time and brought her to a local hotel to filmed the act where he sexually assaulted the victim multiple times. He continued doing so during his four additional visits to Orlando between September 2017 and April 2018.

The FBI began investigating the matter after it received an anonymous to in early May 2018.

An undercover FBI agent then pretended to be a girl started communicating with Deshpande after which Deshpande returned to Orlando and was arrested upon arrival at the airport.

Not only this, but the accused also hatched a kidnap and murder plan of the victim after he was arrested and recruited an inmate he believed will soon be released from the prison but his plans were foiled by the FBI.

“This case is particularly noteworthy in the level of planning conducted and depravity displayed by the perpetrator.

“I would like to recognise the courage of the victim who helped make sure this predator cannot hurt others and also encourage our community to remain vigilant online and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Tampa Division Eric Sporre said.