ICE HSI Arizona, multi-agency taskforce, nets 2 arrests in online operation

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — From July 19 through July 26, law enforcement agencies with the Southeast Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (AZICAC), arrested two individuals for attempting to lure minors to engage in sexual conduct. The multi-agency operation included Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States Army’s Major Cybercrimes Unit, U.S. Marshals Service, as well as detectives and officers from the Sierra Vista Police Department, Cochise County Sheriff’s Office. The online operation revealed the two alleged predators seeking to engage in child sexual exploitation.

Law enforcement officers received intelligence support from members of the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Facial Recognition Unit, HSI and Phoenix Police Department. The operation was completed using the AZICAC guidelines. Coordination for prosecution of these crimes was conducted with the United States Attorney’s Office in Tucson, Cochise County Attorney’s Office as well as the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in Tucson.

The two arrests include:

• July 22 - Oscar ZELEDON-SOBALAVAR, 37, of Phoenix - Traveled from Phoenix to Sierra Vista to meet with whom he thought was a 14-year old girl, to engage in sexual conduct. He was arrested when he arrived to pick up the alleged juvenile from a predetermined meeting spot. He was booked into the Cochise County Jail for Luring a Minor for Sexual Exploitation and Attempted Sexual Conduct with a Minor. He is currently being held without bond.
• July 23 - David Andrew Thomas SUITTS, 29 - Arrested after arranging for a 14-year old girl to come to his residence to engage in sexual conduct. He was booked into the Cochise County Jail for Luring a Minor for Sexual exploitation and Attempted Sexual Conduct with a Minor. Suitts remains in the Cochise County jail on $100,000 bond and a U.S. Marshals hold for violating his conditions of release. Suitts was previously arrested during a similar operation and was pending sentencing in Federal District Court in Tucson.

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; The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) can also be contacted at missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline.

All defendants are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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.