Ecuadorian Man Sentenced to Prison for Transportation of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

 DAVENPORT, Iowa– Luis Moreira Bravo, of Ecuador, but resided in Edina, Minnesota, was sentenced on Monday, October 4, 2021, by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to 120 months in prison for Transportation of a Minor. Moreira Bravo was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay $100 to Crime Victims’ Fund.

According to court documents, Luis Moreira Bravo, age 27, left his Minnesota residence on May 5, 2020, and traveled to Iowa to meet with a fourteen-year-old minor. Moreira Bravo met the victim on social media where the two discussed engaging in sexual activity when they met in person. Moreira Bravo arrived at the victim’s residence and he thereafter drove her to a nearby location where the two engaged in sexual intercourse multiple times. After sleeping overnight in the vehicle, Moreira Bravo drove the victim to Minnesota the next day with the intent to further engage in illegal sexual conduct. Once in Minnesota, the minor victim and Moreira Bravo again engaged in sexual intercourse.

Acting United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Muscatine Police Department, St. Paul Police Department, and Minneapolis Police Department collaborated on this investigation to locate the victim.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.