Daniel Philip Aguirre, a 33-year-old resident of Salinas, has been sentenced to 22.5 years in federal prison for his involvement in child sex trafficking and related offenses. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Beth L. Freeman, who also ordered Aguirre to pay $19,100 in restitution.
Aguirre had previously pleaded guilty on October 30, 2024, to several charges including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, sex trafficking of a minor, coercion and enticement of a minor, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.
The plea agreement detailed Aguirre's activities between 2014 and 2017 where he used platforms like Grindr, SnapChat, and Craigslist to recruit adolescent boys for sexual exploitation. In May 2014, he enticed a 14-year-old into illegal sexual acts involving another man in San Jose while using amyl nitrates to keep the victim intoxicated. Between April and September 2017, Aguirre trafficked another 14-year-old while maintaining an illegal relationship with him and creating child sexual abuse materials. Additional allegations were acknowledged by Aguirre regarding two other boys subjected to abuse from 2013 to 2015.
"This defendant preyed on and exploited children," stated Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins. "We are grateful for the courage shown by these victims."
Tatum King from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) described Aguirre as "the absolute personification of a predator" whose actions have impacted many innocent lives.
The investigation began after the first victim reported the abuse to the Carmel-by-the-Sea Police Department in 2020. Following this report, three more victims came forward.
Judge Freeman also imposed a supervised release period of 15 years following Aguirre's prison term and ordered the forfeiture of devices containing child sexual abuse materials seized during a search in 2022.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Harris prosecuted the case with assistance from Sahib Kaur after an investigation led by HSI and Carmel-by-the-Sea Police Department over three years.