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Former Southwest Key worker sentenced to 19 years for sexually abusing migrant children

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TUCSON, Ariz. — A former youth worker at a facility that housed migrant children received his sentence today.

Levian Pacheco, 25, of Phoenix was convicted of sexually abusing seven teenage boys -- some on more than one occassion -- at a facility in Mesa operated by the company Southwest Key. The facility housed children who crossed the southern border illegally without their parents or a legal guardian.

On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Pacheco to 19 years in prison followed by a lifetime supervised release. Prosecutors say the judge increased his sentence due to the fact that Pacheco exposed some of the victims to HIV.

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