El Salvadoran man sentenced to 12 years for child pornography, sexual abuse charges

WASHINGTON — An El Salvadoran national was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison on a variety of charges, including: possession of child pornography, second-degree sexual abuse, first-degree child sexual abuse and illegal re-entry of a removed alien. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Metropolitan Police Department.

David Alberto Canales, 47, pleaded guilty to these charges in August 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Upon completion of his prison term, Canales will be removed from the United States.

According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 7, 2013, HSI special agents arrested the defendant at an apartment in Washington, D.C., for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act. During a search of a cellphone in Canales’s possession, agents recovered approximately eight images of child pornography. In addition, during the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered Canales had sexually assaulted an adult victim in Northwest Washington in July 2013 and two minor victims, ages 12 and 10 at the time of the abuse, in or about 2006 and 2008 respectively, in various locations in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

Canales was previously removed from the United States and deported to El Salvador in 1999 following his conviction in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for drug offenses.

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.