A man who used social media to meet up with and sexually abuse multiple underage girls was sentenced Friday to 40 years in state prison.
Ivan Matias-Montes, 45, committed sex acts on at least three girls but messaged several others with similar intentions through online platforms, according to prosecutors. Matias-Montes pleaded guilty to 85 counts, including lewd acts on a child and contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense. However, Deputy District Attorney Carder Chan revealed there were numerous other girls he was not facing charges for because the victims could not be identified.
Chan also stated that none of the victims knew Matias-Montes before he reached out to them.
One victim, a now 20-year-old woman described only as Jane Doe in court, shared her experience. She said Matias-Montes first messaged her over Instagram when she was just 14. At the time, she believed his name was Ivan Lopez and thought he was in his 20s, but later found out he was actually 39 years old.
Initially, their conversations were friendly, but Matias-Montes gradually steered their interactions into a romantic relationship, asking her to be his girlfriend. Jane Doe explained that due to her naivete and lack of experience with relationships, she agreed.
Over the following years, nearly her entire time in high school, Jane Doe had her first sexual encounters with Matias-Montes. He also requested numerous times that she send him sexual pictures and videos. When she started feeling uncomfortable and tried to end the relationship at age 15, Matias-Montes manipulated her into staying.
She reported him to the police about a week before her 18th birthday.
“I believe Ivan Matias-Montes is a sexual predator and is dangerous to all of the underage girls in San Diego and beyond,” Jane Doe said during the sentencing hearing.
Before his sentencing, Matias-Montes apologized, expressing that he felt “ashamed” and was “very sorry for the damage I caused to [the victims].” He added, “There’s no words for my wrongdoing.”
In addition to Jane Doe, Chan said two other girls, ages 14 and 16, were “repeatedly sexually abused” by Matias-Montes. These victims chose not to participate in the prosecution to avoid the trauma of testifying in court.
Chan further revealed that “for nearly a decade, the defendant solicited countless teenage girls with the same twisted tactics that he used to ensnare Jane Doe.”
San Diego Superior Court Judge John Pro described the case as, “one of the most horrific cases of sexual abuse, physical trauma, psychological trauma and predatory acts that this court has seen.”
Addressing the victims before imposing the sentence, Judge Pro said, “You did absolutely nothing wrong and your self-worth from here on out will never be determined by someone else.”
https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2025/12/19/man-underage-girls-social-media-prison/
