News Releases and Statements

HSI San Juan special agents arrested Luis Javier Perez-Badillo, a 49-year-old man from Aguadilla, whom a federal grand jury indicted April 10.

Juan Carlos Munoz, 42, of Mission, pleaded guilty March 29 before U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa.

On Feb. 29, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico indicted Kiara Ramos Melendez, 29, with one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of receipt of child exploitation material.

According to court documents, from December 2022 through Jan. 25, 2023, Marrero Casanova used a cellphone and instant messaging services to persuade, induce, entice and coerce two 15-year-old boys to engage in sexual activity so he could produce a visual depiction of it.

On Aug. 2, 2023, HSI agents notified the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Apprehension Team that they had discovered Joshuah Cruz Eberhart, 25, of Clay Springs, was distributing child sex abuse material online.

Carl Stephen Smith Jr., 33, of Green Cove Springs, faces a minimum mandatory penalty of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. Smith has remained in custody since his arrest on Jan. 31, 2023.

Officers with ICE's ERO Seattle removed Igor Lekomtsev, 45, a citizen of Russia, Jan. 26.

All arrests took place in the assigned ERO Seattle states of Alaska, Washington and Oregon, with criminal convictions made by courts in Washington and Oregon.

According to court documents, Harold Lee McMullen possessed more than 400 images depicting the sexual abuse of children. Authorities obtained a search warrant after discovering that his computer’s IP address exchanged child sexual abuse material over BitTorrent. McMullen was arrested Aug. 15, 2023, and pleaded guilty Sept. 14, 2023.

The Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force, led by HSI, arrested Elvin Jhohanie Molina-Rosado, a 35-year-old man from Corozal.

HSI began investigating Victor Francisco Mendez, 35, of Douglas, in June 2023, when the Douglas Police Department received information from the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

According to court documents, from November 2022 to December 2023, Lopez-Lebron recruited, enticed, harbored and transported a girl between the ages of 11 and 12 for commercial sex.

Abiel Alejandro Saldivar, 33, of San Antonio, was sentenced by a federal judge to 360 months in prison with a lifetime of supervised release and $45,000 in restitution. The judge also ordered him to pay $55,100 in special assessments.

Project iGuardian is a leader in the fight against online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Over 1,000 students, teachers and school staff received valuable information on cyberbullying, child exploitation and the transfer of sexually explicit images.

Paz Gomez-Magdaleno, a 43-year-old resident of Cameron County, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 60, 120 and 240 months for the transportation of undocumented noncitizens, possession of child pornography, and enticement of a minor, respectively.

Cory Johns, 42, of Nicholasville, was identified in November 2015, when the Lexington Police Department connected with him via a file sharing program and downloaded images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

ICE simultaneously launched its first ever online statistical dashboard for increased transparency into the agency’s operations.

To aid in the consistent implementation of this important national initiative, OPLA has developed a general framework to handle cases in immigration proceedings on the juvenile dockets.

According to court documents, from June 2022 to July 2022, Resto Colón used his computer and cellular phone to receive one or more images of child exploitation materials via the internet depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Tong Sun, 45, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis, who accepted his plea for possessing child sexual abuse material via his cell phone.

Kenneth Howard Worthy, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 40 years in federal prison without parole.

David Alejandro Bautista, 32, was sentenced by a federal judge Dec. 14 to 240 months in federal prison. The judge also ordered Bautista to pay $84,000 restitution and special assessments in the amounts of $100, $5,000 and $35,000. He must also forfeit his electronic devices.

Sean Michael Kriss, a 40-year-old resident of Brazoria, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 30 years for the sexual exploitation of a child and 10 years in prison for possession of child sexual abuse material.

Wilmer Rivera-Hernandez, a 33-year-old unlawfully present Honduran national, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 50 years in prison following his conviction on Aug. 24 for interstate travel with intent to engage in a sex act with a minor.

Omar Diego Lyra, a 34-year-old Corpus Christi resident, was sentenced Nov. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 19 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography following an investigation by HSI Houston’s Corpus Christi office and the Victoria and Corpus Christi Police Departments.