Sentenced to 16 years in prison for child pornography in Sioux Falls

A Sioux Falls man was sentenced this week to two 16-year sentences at the South Dakota State Penitentiary for possessing, producing or distributing child pornography, according to a Minnehaha County court document.

John Basas Lorens, also known as Perfecto Basas Loreno Jr., was arrested on the charges in February after the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). He was sentenced on Wednesday.

Detectives were tipped off to or found approximately 23 videos depicting child pornography on Facebook accounts linked to the 65-year-old man, according to a Minnehaha County court affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Lorens admitted to having approximately seven or eight different Facebook accounts during his initial interview with police. Some accounts were suspended, and Lorens believed this was due to the political views he shared about his home country, the Philippines.

According to the affidavit, Lorens admitted to viewing child pornography in the past but claimed he had not seen anything recently. He stated that he was part of a group that sent explicit videos to each other but was no longer part of the group.

When a detective told Lorens that one of the videos he sent to that group was of a child, Lorens asked the detective “if that was bad,” according to testimony. He asked the detective if it was wrong to send revealing videos of the children.

Lorens is serving a 16-year sentence in State Prison for two level four felonies. It is planned to be released in 2031.

This article first appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sentenced to 16 years in prison for child pornography in Sioux Falls