Wisconsin pastor sentenced to 15 years in prison for abuse of minors, including a Cuban boy

A Wisconsin pastor identified as Cory J. Herthel, 40, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for abusing minors from Venezuela and Cuba.

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Gregory J. Haanstad, explained that on December 4, Herthel, of Green Bay, was sentenced to 180 months in prison (15 years) for the online deception of children located in Venezuela, Cuba and Spain.

Andstatement The Department of Justice states that in May 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was contacted by the Adventist church where Herthel worked as a pastor, regarding information indicating that the pastor was possibly involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship with asmaller who lived in Venezuela.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Herthel sent the boy videos of himself masturbating and, at Herthel's request, the boy sent similar videos and images in response.

According to court documents, Herthel confessed that he met the minor on a missionary trip to Ecuador. The boy begged on the streets and soon after returned with his mother to his native Venezuela, but Herthel remained in contact with the boy.

Prosecutors confronted Herthel with images of him masturbating, after which he acknowledged sending the videos to the boy. Herthel also admitted asking the boy to send himimages explicit and masturbation videos, in exchange for money. The pastor made several payments to him through online applications.

An additional FBI investigation further revealed that Herthel also exchanged sexually explicit images and videos with a minor in Cuba. Herthel assisted in the transfer of the boy to Spain with the ultimate goal of bringing him to the United States.

According to the report, the religious visited the minor on several occasions in Spain and admitted to having had a sexual relationship with him.

Finally, court records indicate that Herthel also requested sexually explicit images and videos from a second boy in Cuba, to whom he also sent money.

At the sentencing hearing, Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach described Herthel's crime as "terrible" and "an abuse of spiritual authority."

He also pointed out the serious psychological and emotional scars that Herthel imposed on his victims, taking advantage of the fact that they were children from developing countries.extreme poberty.

After serving his 15-year prison sentence, Herthel will spend 20 years on supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

According to the Department of Justice, this case was carried out as part of its Project Safe Childhood initiative, launched nationally in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse in the United States.