Denver-area man arrested for producing, transporting and possessing child pornography

DENVER — A Denver-area man was arrested Thursday without incident by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

This arrest was announced by U.S Attorney John Walsh, District of Colorado, and Special Agent in Charge David A. Thompson, HSI Denver.

Jamie Sailas, 29, of Brighton, Colorado, was arrested based on a Criminal Complaint charging one count each of producing, transporting and possessing child pornography. Sailas appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge where he was advised of his rights, and the charges pending against him. He is being held in custody pending a detention and preliminary hearing scheduled for March 17.

According to an HSI affidavit, in October 2013 an HSI special agent in Washington, D.C., was conducting proactive undercover investigative activity on the Internet. During his investigative work, he encountered a link to a video of a minor child with black marker on her torso with obscene words and an arrow pointing down to her genitals. It was determined that this image was located in a Dropbox account. The special agent learned that Dropbox had independently contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Further investigation by HSI revealed that the subscriber to the Dropbox account was Jaime Sailas, who was determined to reside at an address in Brighton, Colorado.

As the investigation progressed, it was determined that in addition to Dropbox, Sailas also allegedly used two Google email addresses to transport child pornography. He transported thousands of child pornographic images and videos. He used an email account to send a nude picture of his genitals to someone he met online. Sailas also worked at a Brighton business named Game Trader. It was determined that child pornography activity was connected to both his home and the business. No business computers were compromised.

In connection to the investigation, special agents and officers executed a search warrant at Sailas’ residence. It was discovered that in addition to Sailas, there were five additional adults and one minor child residing in the home. Sailas had his own bedroom, which was locked. In that room multiple devices containing child pornography were discovered. Also, an image of what appeared to be an adult male’s genitals inserted into the mouth of an infant was located on one of his devices. The genitals in this child pornography image appear to be consistent with the physical characteristics of the images Sailas sent via one of his email accounts. Sailas allegedly produced this photo.

“Those who sexually abuse our children, especially those who use infants to produce child pornography, deserve the full weight of federal law enforcement to stop them,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “Thanks to the work of HSI and prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, an individual responsible for such child pornography has been arrested and charged with a crime.”

If convicted of producing child pornography, Sailas faces not less than 15 years, and not more than 30 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine. If convicted of transporting child pornography, Sailas faces not less than five years, and not more than 20 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine. If convicted of possessing child pornography, Sailas faces not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.

This case was investigated by HSI with support from the Brighton Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia L. Riewerts.

A Criminal Complaint is a probable cause charging document. Anyone accused of committing a felony violation of federal law has a Constitutional right to be indicted by a federal grand jury.

The charges contained in the Criminal Complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE 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-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

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.