Wisconsin pastor accused of exploiting children in Venezuela and Cuba gets 15 years

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin pastor accused of sexually exploiting children from Venezuela and Cuba was sentenced Monday to 15 years in a federal prison.

Cory Herthel, 40, pled guilty in August to one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

The church where Herthel served, Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Green Bay, contacted the FBI in May to report that it had received information that Herthel was trading sexually explicit videos with a 15-year-old in Venezuela, according to court documents.

Herthel acknowledged he met the child begging on the streets in Ecuador and kept in touch with him after he and his mother returned to his native Venezuela and exchanged sexually explicit videos with each other, according to prosecutors and court documents.

Investigators also learned that Herthel was allegedly exchanging sexually explicit videos with two children in Cuba. He was in a sexual relationship with one of the children and was sending money to the other, according to prosecutors.

Herthel’s attorney, listed in online court records as Eric Maciolek, didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.