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July 3, 2013Greeley, CO, United StatesChild Exploitation

Denver man arrested on charges of attempting to sexually exploit a child

GREELEY, Colo. — A Colorado man was arrested Tuesday on charges of attempting to sexually exploit a child. This arrest was made by officers and investigators with Greeley Police Department (GPD), and special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Brian Robert Heinrich, 37, of Denver, is being held at the Weld County (Colorado) Jail on charges of attempted sexual assault on a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

This investigation began June 10 when an HSI special agent, acting in an undercover capacity, responded to a suspicious Internet posting. The undercover special agent, who stated he had a 6-year-old boy, exchanged several emails with the poster over the next 10 days. During this exchange, the poster, later determined to be Heinrich, indicated he was interested in traveling to Greeley to have sex with the boy. HSI contacted Greeley Police as the email conversation continued with Heinrich.

Heinrich made several statements regarding the activities he was anticipating. Arrangements were made for an undercover officer to meet Heinrich and then escort him to meet the fictitious child. Heinrich was arrested as he met with the undercover officer.

When arrested, Heinrich had a digital storage device and camera equipment in his possession, which email conversations indicated were to visually record the sexual encounter he expected to have with the fictitious boy. HSI special agents and GPD officers later executed a search warrant at Heinrich's residence and seized computers containing sexually explicit child pornography images.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

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