Former UFC Fighter Found Guilty of Sexual Exploitation

A former UFC fighter  Abel Trujillo pleaded guilty on Friday to one misdemeanour count of promoting obscenity and for possessing a sexually exploitative material.

The 36-year-old lightweight division fighter was initially arrested in July 2019 in Broward county in southeastern Florida after a warrant was issued in Colorado. The news was reported by 9News soon after the Colorado court documents were released. The report stated that Trujillo’s felony sexual exploitation charge specifically refers to an individual who “possesses or controls any sexually exploitative material for any purpose.

Furthermore, Trujillo’s obscenity charge refers to when “a person commits wholesale promotion of obscenity to a minor if, knowing its content and character, such person wholesale promotes to a minor or possesses with intent to wholesale promote to a minor any obscene material.”

He was earlier arrested in connection to inappropriate messages sent through social media to a minor. According to a 9News report, Castle Rock Police were earlier notified by the victim who received inappropriate messages through social media from an adult man.

Investigations followed soon after and the man was later identified as Abel Trujillo who had the same “body style, tattoos and skin tone” which were consistent with the photos sent to the victim.

A search warrant was granted in February 2019 following the identification where it got revealed that Trujillo had in his possession a dozen of photos of nude young women.

Later, during the investigation, Trujillo acknowledged that “he has had multiple conversations with females under the age of 18” and admitted to sending nude photos.

Following the plea agreement, the court records show that Trujillo’s other felonies, including attempted sexual exploitation of a child, promotion of obscenity to a minor, and sexual exploitation of a child – self/publish, were all dismissed.

The hearing date is now been scheduled for April 6, 2020, where he is most likely looking to face a sentence of 12 to 18 months and a fine up to $100,000 in Colorado.

The lightweight fighter last appeared in the octagon against John Makdessi at UFC on FOX 26 in 2017 where Makdessi won by a unanimous decision. He has been replaced by Gleison Tibau to face former Bellator champ, Will Brooks, at a Battlefield FC event.