Sex offender sentenced to 20 years for transporting child sexual abuse material
FORT SMITH, Ark. — A Green Forest man was sentenced in the Western District of Arkansas to 20 years in prison April 26. The sentence follows an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Fayetteville.
Pedro Saldivar Jr., 46, received the sentence without the possibility of parole for one count of transportation of child pornography.
According to court documents, in February of 2019, HSI received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual in Green Forest had posted images of child sexual abuse material on a social media platform. HSI identified Saldivar as the person who had posted the files, and in a subsequent interview, Saldivar admitted to trading child sexual abuse material with other users.
Saldivar is also a sex offender in Texas.
“As a repeat offender, Saldivar’s actions perpetuated the trauma experienced by a victim — every time abuse material is downloaded or shared it continues the victimization,” said HSI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge Dave Denton. “This sentence is a testimony to the collaboration between HSI and our law enforcement and community partners and demonstrates our resolute commitment to investigating offenders and holding them accountable.”
Saldivar was indicted by a grand jury in the Western District of Arkansas in September 2022 and entered his guilty plea in December 2022.
HSI Fayetteville, the Green Forest Police Department, the Eureka Springs Police Department, the Fayetteville Police Department, and the Springdale Police Department participated in the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carly Marshall and Devon Still prosecuted the case. Judge P.K. Holmes III presided over sentencing in the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.
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.
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