Portland High School Teacher Sentenced to Federal Prison for Attempting to Entice and Coerce a Minor Online

MEDFORD, Ore.—A high school teacher from Portland was sentenced to federal prison today after he traveled to Bend, Oregon, in hopes of meeting a 15-year-old child he met online.

Edward Hernandez-Corchado, 27, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and 10 years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, in November 2022, as part of an ongoing investigation into online child exploitation, a police officer from Bend, Oregon set up and began using a Snapchat account to pose as a 15-year-old child. As the investigation continued, the officer, posing as the child, met an individual online who was later determined to be Hernandez-Corchado. Over the next several days, Hernandez-Corchado engaged in sexually explicit communication with the officer, who he still believed was a child, and developed a plan to meet the child in Bend.

On November 11, 2022, Hernandez-Corchado traveled to Bend to meet the child and was intercepted and arrested by law enforcement. Following his arrest, Hernandez-Corchado admitted to regularly engaging in sexually explicit communications with underage girls online, possessing child pornography, and previously meeting and engaging in sexual conduct with two minors in the Salem, Oregon area.

On November 19, 2022, Hernandez-Corchado was charged by criminal complaint with enticing a minor. Later, on January 12, 2023, a federal grand jury in Medford returned an indictment charging Hernandez-Corchado with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and, on January 8, 2024, he pleaded guilty to the single charge.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bend Police Department. It was prosecuted by Judith R. Harper, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to contact HSI at (866) 347-2423 or submit a tip online at report.cybertip.org.

Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. It is important to remember child sexual abuse material depicts actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document the victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the internet, they re-victimize and re-traumatize the child victims each time their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.