New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“A Springfield man was sentenced yesterday for sex trafficking a minor under 14 years old.
Carlos Casillas, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 220 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. In July of 2023, Casillas was convicted by a federal jury of one count of sex trafficking of a minor.
“Let the message go out loud and clear — if you prey on vulnerable girls and traffic minors you will spend a long, long time behind bars. Casillas used this victim’s vulnerability and challenging circumstances to take advantage of her,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Preying on vulnerable young children will never be tolerated.”
“Casillas preyed upon a child who was vulnerable and disenfranchised. Like many traffickers, he took advantage of her situation and used the power he had over her to ensnare and exploit her. Today’s significant sentence takes him off the street and away from those he could harm,” said Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New England.
In September 2021, an investigation began into Casillas for sex trafficking activity involving a 13-year-old girl living in a group home in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Evidence presented at trial established that Casillas solicited the minor victim using Facebook messenger, picked the minor victim up from her group home and eventually took her to a local motel under the guise of taking her to Boston. He initiated conversations about leaving the group home and exchanging money for services. Casillas knowingly used his age difference and superior resources to entice the victim.
Acting U.S. Attorney Levy; HSI SAC Krol; Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni; Hampden County Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi; and West Springfield Police Chief Ronald Campurciani made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine G. Curley and Deepika Bains Shukla of the Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.”-Massachusetts Department of Justice.
