HSI El Paso investigation results in guilty plea of NM man for producing child pornography

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Las Cruces, New Mexico, man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to production of child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case with assistance from the New Mexico State Police and the El Paso Police Department.

Sean Patrick Fosler, 28, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, on May 7, 2021, Fosler recorded a video of a then 8-year-old child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Fosler also appears in the video engaged in sexual conduct. In the plea agreement, Fosler admitted that he used Snapchat to send the video to person in Texas.

Fosler faces a minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong is prosecuting the case.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and 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 over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 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.