Plummer man sentenced to 23 years for child exploitation

COEUR D’ALENE — Carlos Manuel Marquez-Pierce, 23, of Plummer, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 23 years in federal prison for production of child pornography and sexual abuse of a minor, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr. said Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge William Fremming Nielsen, presiding in Spokane, also ordered Marquez-Pierce serve supervised release for his life following his prison sentence.

Marquez-Pierce pleaded guilty to the charge on Jan. 25. The Idaho case for sexual abuse of a minor, and the Eastern District of Washington case for production of child pornography, were consolidated for plea and sentencing.

According to court records, Marquez-Pierce committed sexual offenses against three minor victims, ages 11 and 12, over the course of nearly two years.

Marquez-Pierce recorded sexually explicit conduct with one victim and distributed some of the produced images to others. As a result of his conviction, Marquez-Pierce will be required to register as a sex offender, a press release said.

This case was investigated by the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene resident offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Tribal police departments, and the Spokane Police Department, with assistance from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Social Services.