Orange County man surrenders on charges of traveling to Canada to have sex with teen he persuaded to send nude videos
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Garden Grove man was taken into federal custody Monday morning after being charged with receiving sexually explicit videos from a 13-year-old girl he met online and then traveling to Canada to have sex with the teen.
Paul Binh Do, 29, surrendered to federal authorities Monday morning. He was charged last month with one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of receipt of child pornography. In a plea agreement also filed last month, Do agreed to plead guilty to the charges that could send him to federal prison for as long as 50 years.
“All forms of child exploitation are deeply troubling, and this case demonstrates how quickly online child exploitation can lead to physical exploitation,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “Mr. Do coerced a girl that he knew was only 13 to perform sex acts on camera and then travelled to another country in the hopes of further exploiting her. If not for the timely intervention of law enforcement here and in Canada, a greater tragedy would almost certainly have occurred.”
According to the documents filed in U.S. District court, Do began an online relationship with a 13-year-old girl and soon thereafter they began exchanging nude videos of themselves engaging in sexual conduct. Two years ago today, Do traveled to Canada from Orange County to celebrate the victim’s 14th birthday and have sex with her, but he was stopped by Canadian law enforcement as he attempted to enter the country.
When he was stopped by Canadian authorities, Do possessed digital devices that contained naked videos of the victim. Following his arrest in Canada, Do obstructed justice when he contacted the victim and asked her to tell law enforcement that she had lied to Do about her age when, in fact, she had been completely truthful about being 13.
The charges are the product of a probe by the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The Task Force received substantial assistance from HSI’s attaché office in Vancouver, the Calgary Police Service, Canada Border Services Agency, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Southern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit.
“As this case illustrates, the burgeoning use of the Internet means youth are now vulnerable to exploitation by sexual predators not just around the corner, but around the globe,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. “That said, child sexual predators who mistakenly believe they can escape detection by boarding an airplane to victimize minors beyond our borders should be on notice – HSI is using all the resources at its disposal to combat this reprehensible behavior and hold the perpetrators responsible for their crimes.”
Do is expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. The charge of receiving child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and statutory maximum penalty of 20 years. The charge of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years.
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 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. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.
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