Ferto Castorena Sentenced to Prison After Attempting to Meet Teutopolis Girl in 2020 Incident

A Maywood man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty for arranging to have sex with a minor online and traveling to pick her up in Teutopolis.

31-year-old Antonio Ferto-Castorena, a citizen of Mexico, was also ordered to pay restitution and serve five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and evidence presented in court, Ferto-Castorena used an online chat application to meet a teenage girl. Ferto-Castorena engaged in sexual conversations with the minor. On February 5, 2020, Ferto-Castorena drove from Maywood to Teutopolis to pick up the minor from school. School employees, who had been alerted of the possibility of the man coming to Teutopolis schools, notified the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office who apprehended Ferto-Castorena prior meeting the minor.

As part of his plea agreement, Ferto-Castorena admitted to producing child pornography of a minor who was located in California, using an online chat application. The images were located on Ferto-Castorena’s cell phone.

The investigation was conducted by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, Effingham Police Department, and the FBI Springfield and Chicago Field Offices.