Connecticut
CT man gets 28 years in prison for child sex crimes. He had to be extradited from Spain
A Connecticut man was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for child sexual abuse following his extradition from Spain in 2023.
Kristian Ignacio Feliz, 24, of Danbury was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering for sexually exploiting a child, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten said in a statement Thursday.
During sentencing, Beckering recalled the “manipulative” and violent nature of Feliz’s crimes, which she said would impact the victim “for the rest of her life.”
According to court records, in October 2022, Feliz was a 23-year-old graduate student studying quantum physics in Barcelona, Spain. He reportedly struck up an online relationship with a 12-year-old girl living in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“Feliz told the girl that he loved her and called her ‘my little wife,’ while at the same time repeatedly pressuring her to create and send him pornographic videos,” court records show.
In January 2023, Feliz traveled to Michigan and reportedly recorded videos of himself abusing the girl in her home over three days, according to court records. After leaving town, Feliz reportedly told the girl to sell the videos online and send the money to his accounts.
Feliz was indicted in March 2023. Spanish Guardia Civil arrested him in June 2023 in Barcelona, at the request of the United States, according to federal authorities. Authorities noted that the extradition proceedings took place in the Spanish judiciary system, “through which Feliz consented to be extradited to the United States in August.”
CT man charged with child sex crimes tracked to Spain. He was brought back to face justice.
“Every child deserves to grow up safe, healthy, and free from abuse,” Totten said. “In this case, a sexual predator living abroad targeted a child in Kalamazoo, traveled here to abuse her, and then left the country. Working closely with state, federal, and international partners, we made sure Feliz was hauled back to Michigan to face justice in our courts. Let today’s sentence serve as a warning that my office takes the protection of children extremely seriously.”
The FBI and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety investigated the case and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State helped to secure Feliz’s arrest and extradition in November 2023, officials said.
“Today’s sentencing is a shining example of the brilliant interagency and international coordination between the FBI’s Western Michigan Violent Crime Task Force, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Government of Spain,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. No matter how far away those who commit these crimes may be, we will use all of our available resources to extradite you to the U.S. to face justice.”
LYME — A body was recovered from the Connecticut River on Saturday, according to officials from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
At about 1 p.m., a vessel on the river reported seeing a body in the area of the Chester-Lyme Ferry, DEEP said.
The Environmental Conservation Police, along with the Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Unit and Lyme and Cheshire fire departments, responded to the area and recovered the body, DEEP said. The body has been sent to the state chief medical examiner, DEEP said.
Bill Flood, a media relations manager for DEEP, said the body was identified as a male and appeared to have been in the water for an extended period of time.
The medical examiner will determine the manner of death and EnCon is investigating, Flood said, noting there is no believed threat to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
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