News Releases and Statements

Katheriner Greer, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City area of operations, and Steven Russell, Acting United States Attorney, announced that Jonathan L. Traver, 30, of Omaha, was sentenced July 8 in federal court for possession of child exploitation material following an HSI, joint law enforcement probe.

Astro Rey De Leon, 33, was sentenced May 31 in federal court to 210 months in prison to include a lifetime of supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. De Leon pleaded guilty Dec. 17, 2021.

During Operation Blue Ghost, HSI Kansas City and HSI KCCET partners conducted an undercover child exploitation operation in and around Wichita, Kansas, May 17 to June 2, resulting in the arrest of 32 individuals suspected of crimes against children.

Michael M. Rapa, 68, was sentenced June 2, to six years in prison for two counts of possession of prepubescent child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Mason Jordan, 31, appeared in federal court June 3 in Albuquerque after his arrest June 2 on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, coercion, and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, sex trafficking of a child, and cyberstalking. On May 26, a Honolulu federal grand jury returned the eight-count indictment against Jordan, which was unsealed after his arrest.

Colby Fronterhouse, 42, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 12 years in federal prison without parole.

Victor Alberto Elias Rodriguez, age 40, of Mount Pleasant, was sentenced Wednesday to 342 months in prison for the production of child pornography following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe.

Laderrick Dedemon Smith, 23, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on May 26, 2022. He pled guilty on August 24, 2021.

Officers with the ICE ERO Boston field office arrested Vagner Brito Paixao in Somerville, Massachusetts on May 25, a criminal fugitive previously convicted and sentenced to serve 14 years in prison on child rape charges in Brazil.

This was an undercover operation targeting the demand for commercial sex, sex buyers, and human trafficking, which led to 43 arrests for crimes including child sex trafficking, prostitution, drug charges, and misconduct involving weapons. The focus was on hotel prostitution and street prostitution enforcement.

“Operation Lost Souls” ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland and Ector and Tom Green counties. The missing youth, many of them runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Joshua James Duggar, 34, repeatedly downloaded and viewed images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including images of prepubescent children and depictions of sadistic abuse. In addition to the 151-month sentence, Duggar must serve 20 years supervised release, register as a sex offender, and pay $50,000 in fines.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida sentenced Christopher Edwin Day, 52, to life in prison on May 16. Day previously pled guilty to two counts of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor into illegal sexual activity.

Daniel Lee Ogorzolka, 70, from Pleasanton, Texas, was sentenced May 23 in federal court to 75 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release to include paying $20,000 in restitution.

Last week, results from an undercover operation dubbed “April Fools” aimed at targeting alleged sexual predators was announced by local law enforcement in partnership with ICE's HSI.

HSI Brazil, receiving information from the PF’s Child Pornography/Exploitation and Hate Crimes Unit in May 2020, coordinated efforts targeting subscribers of the website in the United States and other countries. The Brazil-based ‘child modeling’ website is alleged to contain child exploitation material widely distributed via the dark web.

Adolfo Aburto-Gonzalez, 24, is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 24, before United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez.

Mauricio Ruiz, a 41-year-old resident of Alice, Texas, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender and serve the rest of his life on supervised release following completion of his prison term during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Fernando Cristancho, age 65, of Bel Air, Maryland, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release, on May 11, for coercion and enticement of a minor who he met through the church to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Andres Antonio Ponce, 22, from San Antonio, was sentenced May 10 in federal court to 235 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Ponce pleaded guilty April 15, 20

Ehab Sadeek, a 49-year-old Egyptian national living in Massachusetts, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 405 months in federal prison following multiple convictions of child exploitation.

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

Benjamen Charles Slaughter, a 24-year-old resident of Friendswood, Texas, pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 4, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Zachary Zane Stephenson, 45, of Tucson, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

Matthew Benjamin Foltz, 29 used an online messaging application “Whisper” to engage in sexually explicit conversations with an undercover agent.