A Midwood man convicted of attempting to drug and sexually abuse a 3-month-old infant, an 18-month-old toddler, and a 7-year-old girl with the intention of producing child pornography was sentenced to 36 years in prison and lifetime state supervision on Feb. 27.
Bebars Baslan, 37, was convicted in July of 2014 of traveling with the intent to engage in sexual acts with a child under 12 years of age, conspiracy to produce child pornography, attempted production of child pornography, and attempted coercion and enticement of a child to engage in illegal sexual conduct.
Baslan was arrested nearly two years ago in a government sting operation in New Jersey after a friend Baslan tried to coerce into sexually abusing children alerted law enforcement in January of 2013. Over the next two months, the individual recorded Baslan and his girlfriend discussing plans to take sexually explicit videos and pictures of infants and children.
As part of the sting operation, Baslan’s friend offered Baslan and his girlfriend an opportunity to sexually abuse three children in a New Jersey hotel. Baslan allegedly told the friend to drug one of the children with Benadryl so he could sexually abuse her. On March 19, 2013, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Baslan and his girlfriend as they entered the hotel room where they believed the drugged children were.
Baslan was also sentenced to lifetime supervised release and he will be required to register as a sex offender following his prison stint.
Brooklyn’s United States attorney said she hopes the lengthy sentence will stop others from sexually abusing children.
“Today, the defendant received just punishment for his depraved actions – a lengthy prison sentence that will protect other children from him and hopefully deter others from engaging in such crimes,” Loretta Lynch said.
Lynch was nominated by President Obama to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, and was confirmed by the Senate the day before Baslan’s sentencing. If approved by the House, Lynch will be the first African-American woman to become the nation’s top law-enforcement official.
