News Releases and Statements

Jesse Anthony Garcia, 30, of Goodyear, had previously admitted to recording a video in which a minor victim was engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct, and attempting to record a video in which a minor victim was engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct in 2016. Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, and one count of Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

HSI Portland executed a search warrant at Alexander Wiese’s residence in Portland and arrested the former camp instructor Wednesday for receiving child pornography and accessing it with intent to view child pornography.

On Feb. 10, Jason Hernandez, 34, was also ordered to serve 10 years 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, he will have to register as a sex offender.

Derek Wallace Johnson, 41, pleaded guilty Sept. 23, 2020 to the distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography.

William Adam Jonathan Smith, 31, was found guilty by a federal jury. He was convicted of one count of Conspiracy to Commit Sex Trafficking of a Minor and one count of Sex Trafficking of a Minor.

An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas and the North Texas Trafficking Task Force led to the arrest of a 33-year-old Dallas man for human trafficking.

Cameron Michael Pittman, 34, a resident of Orange Grove, Texas, pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in the Southern District of Texas Sept. 9.

An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) resulted in the arrest of a 25-year-old Australian citizen who is now facing a total of 247 charges related to 245 alleged child victims in the United States.

As the result of a probe by ICE's HSI Los Angeles, Daniel Seibert, 29, of Lake Forest, pleaded guilty in March 2020 to a three-count information charging him with production of child pornography, traveling to engage in illicit sex and using a facility of commerce to induce a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Mike Barry Brior, 43, of Riverside, who was an 18-year employee of the school district, where he worked for a time directly with children as a teacher’s assistant, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu.

Lawrence Legault, 60, was taken into custody pursuant to a search warrant by law enforcement after information was received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a phone number associated with Legault was used in the uploading of illicit child images to a cloud storage account.

David Paul Farrar, 58, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to sexual exploitation of a child and transportation of child pornography.

Chaunta A. Bashir, a.k.a. “taytheonly,” 27, of Chino, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal. Bashir pleaded guilty on July 15 to one count of production of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles.

Wondering what an Alive Day is? An Alive Day is the anniversary of the date when a veteran almost lost their life in combat.

Philip B. Gilbert, who was employed in the IT department of the Archdiocese of Seattle, was arrested on state charges in May 2019.

OPC VII simultaneously targeted the distributors and producers of child sexual abuse material throughout the Americas.

Patrick McMahon, 30, a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado appeared at the hearing remotely, free on bond. He was ordered to voluntarily surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility.

William Michael Fields, Jr., 37, of Cynthiana, Kentucky, was convicted after a two-day trial in June 2020. According to trial testimony and documents on file with the court, Fields, then 36, exercised his positions as a Harrison County Constable and Paris Fire Department firefighter to form a relationship with a 17-year-old victim, who was interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement or emergency medicine.

Charged was Stephen Shipps, 67, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Shipps was arrested this morning and will be appearing in federal court for his arraignment via Zoom at 1pm today.

Stephen Scott Meals, 39, a resident of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 20. He was further ordered to register as a sex offender and to 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.

Lazaro Benito Rocha, 27, a resident of Odom, Texas, admitted Oct. 22 that he had responded to an ad on Craigslist advertising a “good time” with a teenage girl. He continued communicating with whom he thought was a 14-year-old female, which soon escalated into conversations of an explicit sexual nature via text messaging.

Keith Prescott Gace, a resident of Sante Fe, Texas, was sentenced Oct. 21 in the Southern District of Texas to 30, 20, 20 and 10 years for the production, distribution, receipt and possession convictions respectively.

Daniel Ellsworth Janssen pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography Oct. 22 in the Southern District of Texas.

Marcus Ryan Howell, a resident of Lake Jackson, Texas, was sentenced Oct. 13 in the Southern District of Texas to 151 months in federal prison for two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Arthur William Callender was convicted on April 1 of two felony counts of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10.