SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On April 15, 2026, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging former track and field coach Miguel Ángel García-López, 29, from Carolina, Puerto Rico, for child exploitation, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. García-López was arrested on December 12, 2025, and is in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.
According to court documents, from May 2025 to November 2025, Miguel Ángel García-López induced, enticed and coerced five female minors: two 13-year-old minors, one 14-year-old minor and two 15-year-old minors, to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography and/or transport a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The defendant used his cellular phone to record the victims while communicating with them. During the communications, the defendant requested sexually explicit images to the minors. The defendant also recorded the minors while engaging in sexually explicit conduct with him.
If you think someone you know might be a victim of this defendant or any other predator, please report it so the proper authorities can investigate.
García-López is charged with four counts of production of child exploitation material; one count of coercion and enticement of a minor; two counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity/attempt; and one count of receipt of child exploitation material.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elba Gorbea of the Crimes Against Children, Human Trafficking and Immigration Unit, is prosecuting the case. FBI San Juan is in charge of the investigation.
If convicted for the charges the defendant faces the following penalties: production of child exploitation material – a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years; coercion and enticement of a minor – a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years up to life in prison; (3) transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity/attempt – mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years up to life; and receipt of child exploitation material – a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. All charges of conviction are to be followed by a term of supervised release after imprisonment of no less than 5 years up to life. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
