Los Angeles man gets life for child abuse, making porn in PH

Convicted rapist and child sex abuser Stanley Dan Reczko III.

DALY CITY — A Los Angeles man, who made child pornography in the Philippines after serving time for child rape, was sentenced May 18 to life in federal prison without possibility of parole.

Stanley Dan Reczko III, 50, who was required to register as a sex offender after his rape conviction, was convicted in March of making child pornography in the Philippines.

Reczko was arrested in September 2007 after returning to the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Prosecutors said Reczko abused a 16-year-old Filipina victim for three years, producing “eight series of child pornography,” in which he appeared with his victim.

Harsh sentence deserved

Authorities said Reczko’s criminal history justified the harsh sentence.

“This defendant has a life-long history of violent behavior,” said Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Yonekura. “He has received treatment and counseling, but in light of this case, the help offered to him appears to have had no effect.

“Even though he has previously served prison time for the rape of a minor, this punishment did not deter his behavior. In light of his recidivism, the life prison sentence is richly deserved,” Yonekura added.

In the first part of a bifurcated trial, a federal jury in February found Reczko guilty of sexual exploitation by producing child pornography in the Philippines.

In law, bifurcation refers to the judge’s ability to divide a trial into two parts so as to render a judgment on a set of legal issues without looking at all aspects.

Reczko received the life sentence for the sexual exploitation charge, and he received a consecutive 10-year term for producing child pornography while being required to register as a sex offender, Yonekura said in a press statement.

The DA said Reczko has been in custody since 2007, when he was arrested by agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) upon arrival from the Philippines.

Warning to predators

“This sentence should serve as a warning to sexual predators who mistakenly believe they can escape justice by exploiting children overseas,” said Mark Selby, deputy special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles.

“There can be no place for the abuse of foreign children by our citizens, and HSI will seek to vindicate the rights of those victims no matter how far they live from our shores. Fortunately, the sentence imposed today virtually assures that no additional children will be harmed by this defendant.”

Prosecutors said authorities began investigating Reczko in May 2007 after the minor-victim handed over a CD containing child pornography to the International Justice Mission (IJM), a non-governmental organization working in the Philippines.

The IJM provided the CD, along with other evidence, to American law enforcement officers working out of the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The evidence showed that Reczko had used the minor to produce eight series of child pornography, which included images of him having sexual intercourse with the victim.

According to prosecutors, Reczko sexually, physically, emotionally and mentally abused the victim for three years.

Reczko was a registered sex offender. He pleaded guilty in 1997 to the first-degree rape of a 12-year-old in New York, according to court documents.

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