Big Isle man charged in child porn and prostitution cases

A Kailua-Kona man is in federal custody on charges of prostituting a 15-year-girl and producing child pornography of the girl and her 2-year-old daughter.

Federal prosecutors filed papers in U.S. District Court on Thursday charging Michael Patrakis with one count of sex trafficking of a minor and 27 counts of child pornography.

Patrakis, 43, was already in custody on Hawaii island without the opportunity to post bail on drug and other state charges involving kidnapping and promotion of child abuse when the papers were filed. A state judge in Kona granted the Hawaii County prosecutor’s request Friday to drop the state charges. Federal authorities took Patrakis into custody following the hearing.

Federal investigators say in papers filed in U.S. District Court the girl told authorities that Patrakis took pictures and video of the two of them having sex and that Patrakis posted the pictures online to meet other people for sex. She said Patrakis also arranged for her to have sex for money through advertisements on Craigslist. She said she used some of her share of the profits to buy drugs from Patrakis.

Hawaii County police arrested Patrakis in September after a former roommate told them she saw a video of Patrakis and two boys abusing the 2-year-old girl and another video of Patrakis taking pictures of the nude toddler, according to court documents.

Police seized computers, smartphones, digital cameras and other electronic devices from the residence and handed them over to federal investigators to examine, according to the documents.

Investigators say they recovered images of Patrakis having sex with the 15-year-old girl and abusing the girl’s daughter.

Police charged Patrakis with promoting child abuse, kidnapping, drug possession and other charges. He was released two weeks later after a state judge reduced his bail to $100,000 from $212,000.

A grand jury returned an indictment in November adding more child abuse and drug charges.

A state judge revoked bail and ordered Patrakis taken into custody in December for violating the terms of his release. One of the conditions of his release was a ban on contact with the 15-year-old girl and her daughter.

Investigators say the girl told them Patrakis took her to Waikoloa in late November to have sex with three men in exchange for heroin.