Former El Paso US Army soldier charged with child pornography offenses

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury returned an indictment May 14 charging Seth Herrera, 35, a U.S. Army soldier, previously of El Paso, Texas, with attempted sexual exploitation of a child and receiving files depicting child sexual abuse.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations special agents are investigating the case.

According to court documents, Herrera allegedly used encrypted messaging applications and network applications to find, receive, and download child sexual abuse material over the course of multiple years, beginning in 2021. He also allegedly used artificial intelligence chatbots to generate child sexual abuse material using images of children he knew and surreptitiously took images and videos of those same children undressing in his El Paso home.

Herrera is already charged in Alaska relating to his alleged transportation, receipt, and possession of child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated child sexual abuse material, while stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Trial Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mallory J. Rasmussen for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.