A federal jury convicted Dante James, 28, of St. Croix, on production of child pornography and second-degree rape charges. James awaits sentencing on a date to be set by District Judge Wilma Lewis, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Friday.
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, according to court documents.
“Sexual abuse impacts our entire community and exposes its victims to a lifetime of
trauma. 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”, said Smith.
“The defendant’s sexual abuse was also an abuse of trust,” said Homeland Security
Investigations Assistant Special Agent in Charge Eugene Thomas. “As the victim’s former steelpan 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.”
According to evidence presented at trial, between Jan. 1, 2021, and Aug. 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. 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.
