News Releases and Statements

Ivan Pravilov, 49, was arrested by ICE HSI agents Jan. 14, 2012. He was charged with committing sexual acts with a 14-year-old boy visiting the United States and attending hockey clinics.

"Two Maryland men, George Sell and Terry Lee Nolley, were sentenced to prison for their roles in the ""Country Lounge"" online child pornography bulletin board following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigations Unit, and the NASA Office..."

Anthony Allen Armstrong of Chipley, Fla., was sentenced to 110 months in federal prison for failing to register as a convicted sex offender and for knowingly possessing child pornography following a ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Houston County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) investigation.

Robert Vincent Peace, 45, of Lake Forest, Calif., is charged with three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14; six felony counts of lewd acts on a child; three felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit lewd acts on a child; two felony counts of using a minor for sex acts; and one felony count each of using a minor for distribution of obscene material and possession and control of child pornography with a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child.

James L. Scott of West Decatur, Pa., was charged Tuesday with possession of child pornography. The charge stems from an investigation ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Scott knowingly possessed digital images and videos of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Mark Kahl of Perry Point, Md., was sentenced to 15 years in prison for receiving child pornography. Kahl had been convicted in Calvert County, Md. in 1997 of sexual abuse of young boys, and had been paroled in January 2011. These charges stem from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Maryland Department of Public...

Andrew Hansen, 34, was arrested Jan. 20, after ICE HSI special agents executed two federal search warrants at his home in the 900 block of Mesa Hills Drive and another residence in the 1000 block of Mesa Hills Drive.

As part of his plea agreement, Paul Henry Brown, 70, of Easton, Md., must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Ivan Pravilov, 49, a hockey coach from the Ukraine, on charges of traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with a minor.

Stephen Siktberg, 32, pleaded guilty to the charges April 4, 2011. According to court documents, Siktberg, who provided private music instruction to both children and adults, downloaded child pornography from the Internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, and saved it on his computer and on CDs.

James Damian Newsom, 52, of Groves, Texas, pleaded guilty on July 12, 2011, to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison Jan. 20 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

Donald Bartling has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 25 ICE HSI agents downloaded two videos containing child pornography from a program associated with Bartling's IP address.

Louis Kevin Wieprecht, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of receiving such material.

David Arturo Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography on Oct. 6, 2011. In July 2010, a detective with CCPD's Internet Crimes against Children Task Force downloaded two images of child pornography from a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on the Interne, later determined to have been sent by Martinez.

A Baltimore registered sex offender was sentenced to 10 years in prison - followed by supervised release for life - for possessing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Baltimore County Police Department.

Brian David Clayworth of Roseville, Calif., faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography charges stemming from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). A forensic examination of Clayworth's computers and external hard drive found over 17,600 images of child pornography.

Larry Warner, Jr. of Joppa, Md, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Baltimore County Police Department. Warner posted advertisements on an online website seeking girls' underwear to use in an act...

Clyde Pontefract of Elizabeth, La., was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for production of child pornography involving his own daughter, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Allen Parish Sheriff's Office.

Frank Robert Tucker, Jr., of Halethorpe, Md., was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for distributing child pornography.

Joe Frank Rios, 45, admitted he possessed multiple videos and images of child pornography on Nov. 23, 2010, which consisted of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head presided over the hearing.

ICE's HSI - working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners including the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont - had numerous prosecutions throughout Vermont in 2011.

Simon Jasper McCarty, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright. McCarty admitted that between 2005 and 2007, he molested three different prepubescent boys outside of the United States and produced videos of the molestation.

Jonathan Binns of Shenandoah, Pa., admitted that he took sexually explicit photographs and videos of two minor children in 2010, uploaded the child pornography to a computer and maintained the images on a thumb drive.

Fernando Garcia was indicted on Aug. 24 with distributing images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On Jan. 27, 2011, an ICE HSI agent, acting in an undercover capacity, downloaded several images of child pornography and traced them back to an account belonging to Garcia.