Ex-SF lawyer gets 5 years for intended sex with a child in PH

Balbino Sablad, 81, of Vallejo, California is in Sacramento County Jail while awaiting transfer to prison. TWITTER

SACRAMENTO, California – A former lawyer with the City of San Francisco was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $3,500 for traveling to the Philippines with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child.

Balbino Sablad, 81, of Vallejo, is in Sacramento County Jail while awaiting transfer to prison. He was facing a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine before the court handed its sentence.

According to court documents, in 2019, Sablad flew to the Philippines with the intention of engaging in sexual conduct with a child under the age of 16. Using Facebook, Sablad chatted with the intended minor victim and he sent the person over $2,000 prior to his travel to the Philippines.

Before he arrived, he also discussed with a co-conspirator his plan to sexually abuse the intended minor victim in the Philippines. Sablad, who had

“Today’s sentence reflects the disturbing lengths the defendant was willing to go to engage in sexual acts with a child,” said U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert in press release. “Our office is committed to doing everything we can to help ensure that children are protected from future crimes by predators like the defendant.”

“The FBI works very closely with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to investigate perpetrators like Sablad and bring them to justice,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan.

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.