CHRISTIANSTED — A federal jury convicted a St. Croix man on production of child pornography and second-degree rape charges, authorities said.
Dante Edison James. 28, now awaits sentencing on a date to be set by U.S. District Judge Wilma Lewis, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
For his conviction, James faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years incarceration on the federal production of child pornography charge, and a maximum of 10 years incarceration on the local second-degree rape charge.
VIPD mug shot of Dante Edison James, 28, of St. Croix.
According to evidence presented at trial, between January 1, 2021, and August 23, 2022,
James engaged in sexual intercourse and other sexually explicit conduct with a 16-year-old minor.
James produced a video recording of the sexual acts with the minor with the use of devices shipped in interstate and foreign commerce.
“Sexual abuse impacts our entire community and exposes its victims to a lifetime of trauma,” U.S. Attorney Smith said. “It is particularly heinous when sexual predators exploit our young children. We remain committed to fully seeking justice for victims of child exploitation and sexual abuse by prosecuting sex offenders of the law in hopes of creating a safe community for our children.”
The victim only learned of the recording after it was posted on social media, and immediately reported the incident to the Virgin Islands Police Department and provided them with a copy of the video.
“The defendant’s sexual abuse was also an abuse of trust,” Homeland Security Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge Eugene Thomas said. “As the victim’s former steel pan instructor, James abused her trust to be a role model and a leader. HSI will continue to work with the Virgin Islands Police Department to ensure that predators who prey on minors in our community are convicted of their crimes.”
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Virgin Islands
Police Department (VIPD). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rhonda Williams-Henry and Everard Potter.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.