Allentown man sentenced to prison for sexual abuse of minors

An Allentown man faces up to 24 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor, authorities say.

In a press release on Thursday, the state’s Attorney General, Michelle Henry, announced that 33-year-old Jacob Torres was sentenced to nine to 24 years in prison on several charges, including enticement of a minor, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 and possession of child pornography.

Investigators found that Torres had downloaded, viewed and shared child sexual abuse material on his electronic devices, the press release said. According to court records, Torres was initially arrested on child pornography charges in 2016 and released on bail.

A month later, investigators filed charges of sexual assault, but he was not arrested on that charge until 2022 and jailed on $500,000 bail.

The Attorney General’s Office said during the child pornography investigation, Torres admitted to having illicit contact with a minor. He met a 14-year-old girl on a social networking website. Torres lied about his age and sexually assaulted the girl on multiple occasions after meeting in 2015, the release said.

Torres pleaded guilty to these crimes in February and his sentence was announced on Monday.

“This defendant has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he poses a threat to the children in our communities,” Henry said in the press release. “This sentence ensures that he will no longer have access to vulnerable young people, either online or in person. Sexual abuse of minors and distribution of child pornography are crimes that my office takes very seriously, and we will continue to protect children and hold sex offenders accountable.”