Marylander Pleads Guilty to Coercing and Enticing D.C. Minor

Daniel Cruz Ramirez, 28, a Maryland resident, pleaded guilty June 3 in U.S. District Court in Washington to coercion and enticement of a minor, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced.

The plea covers Ramirez’s sustained sexual abuse of a single D.C. resident that began when the victim was 13 years old and continued over multiple years. Under federal law, coercion and enticement of a minor carries a statutory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life; the offense also mandates lifetime supervised release and sex-offender registration.

The guilty plea changes the case from prosecution to sentencing. U.S. District Judge will now set a date for sentencing, at which the court must apply federal sentencing guidelines that account for the victim’s age, the duration of abuse, and any use of force or coercion. Ramirez remains in custody pending that hearing.

Downstream, the conviction requires the Bureau of Prisons to classify Ramirez under sex-offender protocols and begins a formal process for restitution to the victim through the federal Crime Victims Fund. The U.S. Attorney’s Office must also notify Maryland and D.C. authorities so that Ramirez’s name enters both jurisdictions’ sex-offender registries immediately upon any release.

The plea concludes one case within the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s priority initiative targeting the sexual exploitation of children.

This is the latest guilty plea secured by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia in a case involving the online or in-person enticement of a minor. The Department of Justice has pursued such prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) since the statute’s strengthening in the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice