Minnesota woman indicted for producing child pornography

MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Twin Cities woman was indicted Nov. 3 on multiple counts related to making pornographic photos of a child, which she intended to sell.

This indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Cottage Grove (Minnesota) Police Department, and Washington County (Minnesota) Child Protective Services.

Roxanne Merrell, 35, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, was charged with two counts of producing child pornography. Merrell was arrested by law enforcement authorities Nov. 5; she made her first court appearance Nov. 7.

"HSI is committed to aggressively pursuing predators who produce, possess or trade child pornography," said J. Michael Netherland, special agent in charge HSI St. Paul. "It is our job to do everything that we can to protect the most vulnerable members of our society."

According to the indictment and documents filed in court Friday, Merrell was offered $100,000 to take photos depicting a minor "below the waist" and nude, which she took while the child was sleeping. The photographs were discovered in North Dakota on the computer of a known sex-offender, who had been arrested previously. Merrell's hands appeared in at least one of the photographs, and she was later identified as having produced and sent the images.

If convicted, Merrell faces fines and a statutory prison sentence of 15 to 30 years for each count. She would also have to register as a sexual predator.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, 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.