Bronx man pleads guilty to the sexual exploitation of a child, child pornography-related charges

NEW YORK — A Bronx man pleaded guilty Monday to sexually exploiting a child, transporting child pornography and possessing child pornography. The guilty plea is the result of an extensive investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Narendra Tulsiram, 50, was arrested Jan. 11, 2012. At sentencing, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

"Narendra Tulsiram shamelessly sexually exploited a child for nearly five years," said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New York. "HSI New York will continue to work with federal and state prosecutors to arrest and prosecute predators who target young children."

"The depraved acts that Narendra Tulsiram committed against his 13-year-old victim brought an abrupt end to her childhood, and then he went even further - using pictures of the sexual abuse he forced her to endure in a campaign of extortion," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Southern District of New York. "Nothing can reclaim what Tulsiram stole from his victim, but we hope that his guilty plea and the time he will spend in jail bring some measure of closure."

According to court documents, from 2006 through September 2011, Tulsiram sexually abused a female minor, the victim. The abuse began when the victim was 13-years-old. From approximately 2008 through September 2011, Tulsiram also took sexually explicit photographs chronicling his abuse of the victim.

In November 2011, after the victim resisted Tulsiram's requests for additional sexual encounters, he used his e-mail account to send sexually explicit photographs of the victim to the victim's e-mail account. In those e-mails, Tulsiram threatened to send the sexually explicit photographs of the victim to others, including her family, in an effort to get her to accede to his demands.

After Tulsiram's arrest, search warrants were executed for his cell phone and e-mail account. Forensic analysis of Tulsiram's cell phone recovered photographs depicting the victim, and in some instances, the victim and Tulsiram engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Forensic analysis of Tulsiram's cell phone also recovered threatening e-mails sent from Tulsiram's e-mail account to the victim attaching the sexually explicit photographs of the victim.

Tulsiram pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of possessing child pornography and one count of transporting child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6, 2013, at 2:30 p.m.

This investigation is 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-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.