Plea Agreement Reached in Rochester Cyber Exploitation Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A plea deal has been reached with a Rochester man accused of soliciting dozens of sexually explicit videos from young girls.

Court records state that 25-year-old Christian Santiago Duran-Ayala was charged with nine felony crimes in July after Rochester police received a cyber tip and opened an investigation the previous month. He faced two counts of disseminating child pornography, three counts of possessing child pornography, three counts of using electronic communication to solicit sexual conduct from a child, and one count of using minors in pornographic work.

Andy Brownell - TSM Rochester

Messaging App Used For Solicitation

According to the criminal complaint, investigators traced internet accounts associated with the cyber tip to Duran-Ayala’s residence, which led to the execution of a search warrant. The court document says Duran-Ayala admitted to investigators that he had hundreds of files depicting children engaging in sexual acts on his electronic devices.

The charges allege he used five accounts on the Kik messaging app to solicit child sexual abuse material. The criminal complaint indicates investigators found more than 10,000 messages from his accounts in which he pretended to be a juvenile male.

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Victims as Young as 9 Years Old

It is alleged that Duran-Ayala sent photos to underage users and asked them to send him videos. Court documents say investigators found videos of girls as young as nine years old engaging in sexually explicit acts.

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Under the terms of the plea agreement, Duran-Ayala has entered guilty pleas to one count of dissemination of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography in exchange for the dismissal of the remaining charges.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in March and currently remains free without bail.

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