Who is Ruben Verastigui? Former Trump, GOP aide arrested in child porn ring: 'Babies are my biggest turn-ons'
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
WASHINGTON, DC: A former staffer for the Republican National Committee and the Senate Republicans has been arrested on child pornography charges at his home in Washington, DC on Friday, February 5.
The 27-year-old Ruben Verastigui was charged with distributing child pornography, according to a release from the Metropolitan Police Department. ''Between March 2020 and February 2021, an investigation revealed the suspect distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography," the release states.
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According to his LinkedIn profile, Verastigui worked for the Senate Republican Conference from March 2019 until July 2020. By then, the investigation into Verastigui had been in full swing.
The Texas native had been working as a communications manager for a non-profit called Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions until February 6. He has also worked for the Republican National Committee from 2017 to 2018, which included working on social media ads for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee and Donald J Trump for President, Inc.
He has worked for several anti-abortion groups including March for Life, Students for Life America, Live Action and Susan B Anthony list. A YouTube video from 2013 shows that he spoke at the National March for Life in 2013.
According to court documents obtained by The Daily Beast, Homeland Security special agents came across Verastigui while looking into a group of at least 18 people who were trading child porn on a website that remains unnamed “to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.” In a group chat on the site, Verastigui went by the username “Landon” and the handle @somethingtaken, according to investigators.
The court documents reveal a very disturbing chat on the site in which Verastigui told another person that “babies” were his “absolute favorite.” “Well like I said babies are some of my biggest turn-ons and beast,” Verastigui wrote in the direct message, according to court documents. “Young rape… Fuck I love all that.” Verastigui sent further messages about wanting to view “hardcore” videos. When he was sent a video file showing an adult sexually penetrating a child, he replied “FUCK YES!!!”
According to the criminal complaint filed, Verastigui asked another member to visit DC “for the purpose of sexually abusing a minor.” During another discussion, he was sent and viewed a video depicting the rape of an infant.
Court documents also state that he sent naked photos of himself to the group chat. Those pictures were taken in his home kitchen and court documents note that a tattoo of words written in the script can be seen on Verastigui’s left arm.. During a search warrant execution on Friday, February 5, Verastigui admitted to being active on the child porn site, the court documents added.