DOJ: Charlotte man gets 8.5 years for child abuse videos depicting infant torture

Anthony Acevedo also ordered to pay $62,000 in restitution

A Charlotte man was sentenced Oct. 7 to 8½ years in federal prison for transporting child sexual abuse material, including a video depicting the torture of an infant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

Anthony Eliu Acevedo, 27, also received a lifetime of supervised release and was ordered to register as a sex offender, pay $62,000 in restitution and pay $10,000 in special assessments. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced the sentence Oct. 8.

“Acevedo had over 65 hours of videos depicting the abuse of children, from sadistic and masochistic conduct to the physical and sexual torture of an infant,” Ferguson said. “That material should not even exist. Those who spread it will find their way to federal prison.”

The federal case was initially sealed, according to docket entries in United States v. Acevedo, case number 3:24-cr-00233.

Prosecutors moved to seal the case Nov. 19, 2024. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan C. Rodriguez granted the request that day, and a sealed indictment and arrest warrant were entered.

Acevedo was arrested Feb. 5, 2025. The following day, Rodriguez granted prosecutors’ oral motion to unseal the case. The docket entries provided do not state why prosecutors initially sought to seal it.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation began in October 2023 after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received information about someone uploading child sexual abuse material to an online storage account. Investigators identified that person as Acevedo.

Authorities searched his residence in February 2024 and recovered two cellphones and a laptop. A forensic examination of those devices and his online storage account found more than 426 images and 999 videos of child sexual abuse material, prosecutors said.

The videos totaled 65½ hours and included material depicting sadistic and masochistic abuse of children, according to the announcement.

Investigators also determined Acevedo used Telegram to obtain and pay for the material. During an interview with law enforcement, he said he intended to sell it to others. Prosecutors said the investigation found no evidence he had completed any sales.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Orso described the collection as “a very large collection of some of the worst materials this Court has ever seen,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Earlier docket entries show Acevedo initially pleaded not guilty at his Feb. 11, 2025, arraignment. On March 5, 2025, he waived a detention hearing and was ordered detained.

Acevedo remains in U.S. Marshals Service custody pending transfer to a federal prison.

The FBI and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Cervantes prosecuted it.

The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative that coordinates efforts to investigate child sexual exploitation, prosecute offenders and identify and rescue victims.