A former aide to the mayor of Miami who was previously charged in state court with groping a teenage boy at City Hall and then sending him a lewd photograph is now facing federal child porn charges.
The U.S. attorney's office in Miami filed a criminal complaint Wednesday against Rene Pedrosa, 48. Charges include producing child pornography, receiving child pornography and enticing a minor into sexual activity. Online court records didn't list an attorney for Pedrosa.
Pedrosa was a high-profile spokesman for Miami Mayor Francis Suarez until the investigation became public, triggering his resignation last month. Before that, Pedrosa was a longtime reporter for a Miami Spanish-language television station.
According to the federal complaint, Pedrosa contacted the 16-year-old victim in November through Instagram to discuss a web design job at the mayor's office. During a meeting later that month at City Hall, Pedrosa touched the teen inappropriately, investigators said. Pedrosa and the teen later exchanged explicit photos through text, the complaint said. The teen's mother reported Pedrosa to Miami police in January.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Pedrosa was charged last month with battery and transmitting pornography to a minor, state court records show. The Miami-Dade state attorney's office asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to assign the case to a different prosecutor because of contacts Pedrosa had with the Miami office.
