Los Angeles-area man indicted for allegedly producing child pornography involving 6-year-old girl

LOS ANGELES – A Simi Valley man was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on charges of producing child pornography in a case involving a 6-year-old girl, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Eric Allen Haensgen, 38, who until August 2015 lived in Huntley, Illinois, is also charged with distributing and possessing child pornography. The indictment alleges Haensgen produced still photos and videos of the young victim. Investigators found 83 images and three videos of a 6-year-old girl that had been shot with Haensgen’s iPhone and downloaded to a computer, according to court documents.

Haensgen allegedly distributed other examples of child pornography he obtained from the internet over the BitTorrent Network

Haensgen was arrested March 24 by HSI special agents after federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint accusing him of one count of producing child pornography. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment April 13 in federal court. Haensgen remains in custody without bond.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

The charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years. The charge of distributing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. The charge of possessing child pornography carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vanessa Baehr-Jones of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.

The charges are a product of Operation Predator, an international HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 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.

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