News Releases and Statements

Michael L. Denight, 57, of Mahomet, Ill., was indicted Wednesday for sexually exploiting a minor and possessing child pornography, following an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Champaign, Ill., police department.

Conrad Gallant has been charged in federal court with engaging in sex with a minor in the Dominican Republic. Gallant engaged in a sexual relationship with a then 14-year-old girl, promised and paid her money, and took photographs of her.

Timothy Brehmer, 35, of Broadalbin, N.Y., was indicted earlier today. On or about Dec. 6, 2011, Brehmer knowingly possessed images of child pornography, and received these images between April 2007 and Dec. 5, 2011. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Eric Daniel Griffith of Elkton, Md., was sentenced to five years in federal prison for distributing child pornography following an investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

William Lee Allen Jr., of Cincinnati was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison and ordered to be placed under court supervision for the rest of his life for possessing more than 600 images of child pornography and sharing them over the internet.

Shawn Pound, 41, of Gowanda, N.Y., who was convicted of possession of child pornography, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Edward John Ranft of Bradenton, Fla.,was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison Thursday for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, after an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Domingo Castellon, 56, who has been in custody since his arrest in late January, faces a statutory sentence of not less than 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for June 15 before Judge McBryde.

Additional child pornography charges were filed Friday against a former youth recreational soccer coach after investigators identified a second teenage girl who had been coerced into sending the defendant sexually explicit videos of herself after they met in an online chat room.

In addition, U.S. District Judge John McBryde ordered that Johnathon D. Caudill, 24, of McKinney, Texas, register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime of supervised release.

Paulo dos Santos Silva Jr. was arrested on Feb. 25 by HSI special agents without incident at the Grand Junction, Colo., airport. At the March 1 appearance, Silva waived his right to preliminary and detention hearings. The magistrate judge ordered Silva detained without bond pending resolution of his case.

A 58-year-old police officer, William Berrios-Cruz, was arrested by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents on Wednesday for production of child pornography based on evidence found in his home after he had allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl after having slipped something into her drink.

Jonathan D. Martin, 29, of Vincennes, Ind., was sentenced March 1 to 216 months in prison after pleading guilty to the following child pornography charges: one count of possessing sexually explicit material involving minors, 12 counts of receiving and distributing sexually explicit material involving minors, and two counts of posting a notice offering to trade sexually explicit material involving minors.

Michael Timothy Burke, 56, of Chicago, is the subject of an international warrant issued on July 9, 2010, by the Daegu District Court of the Republic of Korea. The Republic of Korea has requested that Burke be formally extradited to face charges of indecent acts through violence or intimidation against children under age 13, as contained in the Korean Criminal Act.

A previously convicted sex offender, Scott Brandon Heath, was sentenced Monday to 139 months in federal prison on a federal child pornography charge after two U.S. probation officers on a routine home inspection found a cell phone that contained 5,147 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Lewis Gaudinier, a 47-year-old Madera man, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receipt of child pornography following a multi-agency probe involving ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). At least 1,000 image files of child pornography were found on Gaudinier's computer, depicting children 3 to 14 years of age.

Gary Wayne Vitovsky, 53, of Ennis, Texas, was sentenced on Thursday to 160 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release following his guilty plea on child pornography charges.

Scott L. McQuirns of North Wales, Pa., was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for possession of child pornography. The case was investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI's forensic examiner determined that there were at least 300 videos and about 40,000 images of child pornography on Mr. McQuirns' computer.

Kenneth Houck of Philadelphia, PA was sentenced Thursday to 97 months in prison for transportation of child pornography in a case investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). A forensic analysis of his computer found almost 6,470 still images of child pornography.

Benito Delgado Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison for receiving and producing child pornography. ICE HSI forensic examiners found Delgado had 549 videos depicting young children in sexually explicit conduct in his possession, and also found that Delgado had taken pictures of a 6-year-old girl revealing her genitalia.

Bryan Martin, 39, of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Feb. 21 agreed to the facts as described by the prosecutor regarding his offense. U. S. District Judge John D. Rainey accepted the guilty plea and set sentencing for May 21. Martin faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, and up to life in prison.

John Anthony Baca of Bakersfield, Calif., was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 10 years in prison on child pornography charges after pleading guilty to receiving and distributing more than 600 sexually explicit videos and still images of prepubescent minors.

Patrick Mahoney, 34, of Columbus, Ohio, was arrested without incident and is currently in custody. He was charged in a criminal complaint with knowingly attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct and is scheduled to appear Feb. 22 for a detention hearing.

Donald Wayne Waters, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt Feb. 21. Waters was additionally ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

Aaron Gregory Guzman of Clovis, Calif., pleaded guilty Tuesday to receiving more than 600 images and videos of sexually explicit conduct involving minors following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).