HONOLULU–A Hawaii resident was sentenced Thursday to 292 months in prison for producing child pornography of two minor females. The case is the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hawaii Police Department.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayahsi noted at sentencing that 46-year-old Michael Phillip Patrakis’ actions caused “incalculable harm” and hoped that the sentence would act as a “deterrence to others.” As part of the sentence, Patrakis must forfeit numerous electronic devices, pay a $10,000 assessment under the Justice of Victims of Trafficking Act, and serve 20 years of supervised release. Patrakis will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents and information presented in court, in March 2015, Minor Female 1 (then 15 years old), and her daughter, Minor Female 2 (then two years old), rented a room in Patrakis’s home in Kailua-Kona. Patrakis knew at that time that Minor Female 1 was under the age of 18, yet he engaged in a sexual relationship with her and produced visual depictions of her engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Patrakis also had custody and control over Minor Female 1’s 2-year old daughter when her mother worked or left the residence and used the child to produce graphic visual depictions of her private body parts. On September 17, 2015, HSI special agents executed a search warrant of the residence, recovering numerous electronic devices containing the illicit images.
“As this sentencing makes unmistakably clear, child sex predators will receive the justice they are due for their despicable actions,” said Frank Cabaddu, acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Honolulu. “HSI will continue to work tirelessly to ensure child predators and sex traffickers receive the justice they deserve. We owe it to the young victims in these cases, who will carry the emotional and physical scars of these crimes for the rest of their lives.”
“Our office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who sexually exploit our young people,” said Kenji Price, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii. “Defendant Patrakis preyed on the vulnerabilities of these two minor females. With the collaboration of our local, state, and federal law enforcement, the apprehension and prosecution of Patrakis put an end to the abuse. While his abhorrent actions cannot be undone, today’s sentence reflects the message that predators will be held accountable in our community.”
This case was pursued as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.