HSI Douglas, Sierra Vista PD arrest 3 on child exploitation charges

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Douglas and detectives with Sierra Vista Police Department under the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested three people after separate investigations in Sierra Vista.

On June 6, HSI special agents arrested David Charron, 59, of Tucson. Charron was arrested after a monthlong investigation involving online solicitation of minors for sex. Authorities initiated the investigation in early May 2023, after Charron contacted a person he believed to be a 14-year-old Sierra Vista resident. Charron made plans to meet the teen on June 6 near the 2200 block of El Mercado Loop to go to a hotel and engage in sexual intercourse. Officials arrested him at the meeting location and retrieved evidence of the crime from his vehicle. After processing him at the Sierra Vista Police Department, authorities transported him to the Federal Correctional Institution in Florence. Charron remains in custody on the federal charge of sexual exploitation of children. His case was referred for federal prosecution.

On June 8, HSI special agents and Sierra Vista Police Department detectives arrested Norbert Felix, 51, of Sierra Vista, after executing a search warrant at his residence. The investigation began in April, when the police received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tip from the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about a Sierra Vista resident who had transferred child sexual abuse material onto a cloud storage platform. Several search warrants led investigators to a residence on North Clanton Avenue in Sierra Vista. On June 8, HSI Special Agents and police detectives arrested Felix at his residence. He was booked into the Cochise County Jail on four counts of sexual exploitation of minors. He remains in jail with a $75,000 bond. His case was accepted for prosecution by the Cochise County Attorney’s Office.

On June 10, HSI special agents and Sierra Vista Police Department detectives arrested 23-year-old Jonathan Shiffler, a resident of Richmond Hills, Georgia, near Veterans Memorial Park. The investigation began April 4, 2022, after a Sierra Vista resident complained that a 15-year-old was being solicited through an online gaming application to forward illicit images of themselves to several people. Over the next year, detectives gathered evidence, serving several subpoenas and search warrants to online social media platforms and banking establishments. Detectives secured evidence detailing a 24-month online relationship between the juvenile and Shiffler that involved the production of child sexual abuse material for money and online purchases. The investigation culminated when Shiffler traveled to Sierra Vista from Georgia to engage in sexual intercourse with the juvenile at a local hotel. Authorities searched the hotel and found evidence of the planned encounter. Shiffler was booked into the Cochise County Jail on state charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, aggravated luring of a minor, luring of a minor, and involving a minor in a drug offense.

“These apprehensions were the result of great coordination and teamwork with our federal partners in law enforcement to proactively identify offenders and take them into custody,” Sierra Vista Police Deputy Chief Chris Hiser said.

As with all arrests, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

Anyone with information regarding internet crimes against children can use the HSI hotline at 866-DHS-2-ICE to report suspicious activity. Local residents with information relevant to this type of criminal activity are asked to contact Sierra Vista Police Detective Thomas P. Ransford at (520) 452-7500.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.