News Releases and Statements

David Scott Burton, an Alabama man who worked as an X-ray technician at a local children's hospital, was sentenced Thursday to serve 70 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography. The sentencing follows an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Alabama Internet Crimes against Children Task Force...

Dieter David Palmer, 42, was identified as a person who purchased a membership to child pornography websites that were under investigation. The investigation began as a Department of Justice operation (Operation Flicker) targeting a criminal organization operating multiple commercial child pornography websites.

Javier Ojeda-Leon, 27, of Ashburn, Va., was removed Thursday, Mar. 22, from Dulles International Airport via commercial carrier.

The indictment alleges that Patrick Mahoney arranged online a sexual encounter with an undercover officer whom he thought was a 15-year-old girl. He allegedly intended to photograph the encounter with his cell phone.

According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 1, 2011, Hector Caceres-Segui induced a 16-year-old female minor, identified as 'Jane Doe,' to engage in sexually explicit conduct, namely the lascivious exhibition of the genital areas and performance of sexual acts, for the purpose of producing a visual depiction in the form of still images.

Dagoberto Castaneda was sentenced to three years in federal prison for possessing child pornography following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Baltimore County Police Department. Castaneda's computers contained more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Georgios Sgouros, from Athens, Greece, was sentenced this week to serve 10 years in federal prison for traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a case investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). An undercover special agent engaged in an Internet chat with Sgouros who expressed interest in traveling...

Anthony Derick Howard, 45, of Hinesville, Ga., attempted to cross the border March 30, 2011, at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry in Buffalo while operating a tractor-trailer. After being pulled over for a secondary inspection, he was found to be in possession of two knives and two firearms.

Nicholas Brown, 25, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, which will be followed by a life-year-term of supervised released. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Joe Frank Rios, 45, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head, further ordering Rios to serve a life term on supervised release and register as a sex offender. Rios pleaded guilty Jan. 12, admitting he possessed multiple videos and images of child pornography which consisted of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Herman H. Kamphuis, 43, of Cedar Springs, Mich., is in federal custody, charged with attempted sexual exploitation of a minor for unlawful sexual activity, after he traveled from his home to Columbus, Ohio, to have sex with two pre-teen girls.

Michael Allen Alper, 35, of Silver Spring, Md., was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus to 14 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life, for coercing a minor to engage in sex. He also admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl. Judge Titus ordered that upon his release from prison, Alper must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

David John Hammeren, a former Los Angeles police officer and special forces medic, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 17 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, following an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jeffrey Price of Riverton, Ill., was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography. Price produced sexually explicit photographs of an eleven-year-old girl and also possessed more than 900 images and 20 movies that depict children engaged in sexually explicit activity.

Daniel Nowakowski of Orchard Park, N.Y., who was convicted of possession of child pornography, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and five years of supervised release. The sentence is the result of an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Fernando Garcia, 40, of Odem, Texas, was given the statutory maximum 240-month sentence by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack; she also ordered Garcia to serve a lifetime of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

Timothy Valdez, 36, of Modesto, Calif., was taken into custody Saturday by HSI special agents for production of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The ABC-TV affiliate in Washington, D.C., WJLA-TV, aired a story last week about the search for the unidentified suspect, which led to a viewer calling HSI's tip line. The "John Doe" photo also appeared on the America's Most Wanted website.

A two-count complaint charged Nathan Brown of Dolgeville, N.Y., with producing and possessing child pornography due to an investigation being conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested Edwin Jurado-Nazario, an Army reservist and former commanding officer of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps Battalion, on Friday for production and possession of child pornography.

Dionisio Anaya-Velarde, a Mexican national convicted of sex crimes against children, was returned to his home country March 7 by officers with ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Former Cal State assistant professor Kenneth Martin Kyle was sentenced Thursday to 450 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI that revealed he traveled from San Francisco to St. Louis to sexually abuse an infant victim.

Gary Kleibert, a former teacher with Utica Community Schools, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Michael S. Starowicz was sentenced on Friday to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in November 2011 to two counts of receiving child pornography. Starowicz was caught after Fort Worth police officers responded to a ""peeping tom"" call at a residence in Fort Worth.

Leo Aragon Evans, 56, of Cockeysville, Md., must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Jason Haldeman of Landenberg, Pa., was sentenced yesterday to 80 months in federal prison for transporting child pornography via an online peer-to-peer network. This investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Special agents found on his computer about 16,000 files depicting child pornography available for download.