UPDATE: Austin man to spend more than 5 years in prison on child porn charges
(ABC 6 News) – UPDATE: An Austin man was sentenced to 65 months, or about 5.42 years at the MN Correctional Facility in St. Cloud after pleading guilty to two counts of disseminating child pornography.
Jose Luise Rodriguez, 27, was also sentenced to 15 years’ probation after his release.
An additional 15 charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography were dismissed at sentencing, as well as one charge of storing methamphetamine near children or vulnerable adults, and one charge of drug possession.
Rodriguez’s co-defendant, Ana Vitoria Gravina, is scheduled to stand trial on seven charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography and one charge of storing methamphetamine near children or vulnerable adults in January of 2024.
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(ABC 6 News) – One member of an Austin couple arrested on child pornography charges pleaded guilty to two counts of disseminating child porn in Mower County Court Thursday, May 4.
Jose Luis Rodriguez, 27, faced 17 charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography, one charge of storing meth near children or vulnerable adults, and one charge of drug possession.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the two counts in exchange for a relatively low sentence of about 100 months, or 8.3 years in prison, plus 15 years on probation, according to his plea agreement.
The remaining counts will be dismissed at sentencing Aug. 31, according to court documents.
Bail for Rodriguez was set at $125,000 with conditions, or $250,000 without.
Anna Victoria Gravina, 33, pleaded not guilty Thursday to 7 charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography, and one charge of storing meth near children or vulnerable adults.
She is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing in Mower County Court Aug. 11, with a jury trial scheduled Aug. 21.
Bail for Gravina was set at $75,000 with conditions, or $150,000 without.
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(ABC 6 News) – An Austin couple appeared in Mower County Court Thursday on a combined 24 child pornography charges and 3 drug charges.
Jose Luis Rodriguez, 27, faces 17 charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography, one charge of storing meth near children or vulnerable adults, and one charge of drug possession.
Anna Victoria Gravina, 33, faces 7 charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography, and one charge of storing meth near children or vulnerable adults.
According to Mower County court records, the Austin Police Department received 19 tips from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force in March of 2022, alleging that someone with Rodriguez’s information had uploaded more than 3,000 files of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM, or child pornography) to a Google Drive and Photos account beginning in May of 2020.
Gravina’s user information was also flagged in the report.
The downloads allegedly took place in the city of Austin, MN, but court records indicate that Rodriguez and Gravina no longer lived in the address listed in the report.
According to court records, APD received two more ICAC reports in November of 2022 associated with more than 400 more CSAM uploads.
Austin police allegedly obtained search warrants for data related to Rodriguez and Gravina’s Facebook accounts in December of 2022, where officers allegedly saw evidence that Gravina had used Messenger to send Rodriguez 45 CSAM images.
Austin police claim that they learned Rodriguez and Gravina’s Austin address in late March of 2023, obtained a search warrant for the Oakland Avenue address and suspects April 10, and arrested the pair April 18.
According to Austin police, Gravina claimed that her accounts had been hacked, then that she suspected Rodriguez viewed CSAM.
Law enforcement allegedly located drug paraphernalia in the home where the two live with two children, and seized multiple electronic devices which were sent to the MN BCA, according to court records.
Austin police also claim Rodriguez had a small baggie of methamphetamine in one pocket when he was arrested.
The two are scheduled to appear in Mower County Court May 4.