Stowe man sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for child exploitation offenses

PHILADELPHIA — On Wednesday, April 3, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced a Stowe, Pennsylvania, man was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release for child exploitation offenses, following a investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia investigation.

Hakeem James Hughes, 30, previously pleaded guilty to using minors to produce child pornography. Hughes coerced and persuaded minors to engage in sexual acts with him, often providing them phones and electronic games in exchange, and video recorded the encounters.

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 19,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2018, more than 3,000 (3,191) child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 850 (859) 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.

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.

HSI is a founding member 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.