News Releases and Statements

According to court documents, from March 14 to on or about April 3, Ubaldo Badillo-Márquez, 57, of Trujillo Alto, attempted to sexually entice a minor whom he believed to be 13 years old to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. The criminal complaint also alleges that Badillo-Márquez attempted to engage in criminal sexual conduct with the minor.

A Los Angeles-area dentist pleaded guilty Monday to possession of child pornography, including sexually explicit videos of children under age 10, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Mark Stutheit, 59, who was a teacher at Reinhardt Elementary School in Dallas at the time of the offense has been in custody since his arrest in June 2016.  He pleaded guilty in October 2016 to one count of receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Bryan DeWain Splawn, 47, from Hondo, Texas was sentenced March 27 by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses who ordered Splawnl to serve 188 months in prison.

Joshua Lee Merritt, 25, of Tucson, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins, who also ordered the defendant to register as sex offender and be subject to a lifetime of supervised release.

Danica Agustin, 31, Mary Ann Buan, 43 and Jagvie Lopez, 21, were taken into custody March 19 by the NBI with assistance of HSI Manila. The arrests resulted in HSI and the NBI rescuing two children, ages 8 and 13 years old.

Diane Christina Deveaux was taken into custody Feb. 13 at her residence after investigators with the Imperial Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (IV-ICAC) discovered evidence of child molestation during a search of her apartment.

Michael Theodore Mordaunt, 47, of Cypress, pleaded guilty to 19 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified crime, five felony counts of lewd acts upon a child age 14 or 15, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, three felony counts of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child.

Johnathan E. Dawkins, 22, of San Diego, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Raner C. Collins, who also ordered the defendant to register as a sex offender and be subject to a lifetime of supervised release.

Sergio Magana, Jr., 26, of Pasco, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography and five years in prison for receiving child pornography. The terms are to be served concurrently.

Nathan Piturachsatit, 38, who formerly served as vice principal of Lake Roosevelt Elementary School, pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2016. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. In addition to the prison term, Judge Mendoza ordered that Piturachsatit be subject to 10 years of court supervision and register as a sex offender following his release from custody.

Jose Mercedes Meza-Ignacio, 52, a citizen of Mexico residing in Atlanta, was arrested at his residence March 9 as a result of an active child molestation arrest warrant by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Francisco Javier Soledad, 24, was arrested by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Soledad is expected to make his initial appearance Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court.

Michael Pierce, 60, of Lake Orion, Michigan, pleaded guilty last fall to three counts of production of child pornography. In March 2016, authorities served a search warrant at Pierce’s residence, seizing his computer and digital storage devices, which were found to contain at least 100 photographs and approximately 30 videos depicting child pornography.

Anthony Michael Scotti, 21, received the 168-month sentence Monday from U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez.

According to court documents, Daniel John Pye, 35, of Ashdown, Arkansas, originally from Bradenton, Florida, traveled from Florida to Haiti on multiple occasions from 2008 through 2011 allegedly for the purpose of sexually abusing minor female children.

In April 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) entered into a partnership with the U.S. Special Operations Command and the National Association to Protect Children  (PROTECT) to launch the HERO program. It was created to provide wounded, injured and ill Special Operations Forces an opportunity to receive training in high-tech computer forensics and law enforcement skills, to assist federal agents in the fight against online child sexual exploitation. 

Robert Ruben Ornelas, 66, of Santa Ana, who has a long history of abusing children, received the 2,280-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney. Ornelas was found guilty in November by a federal jury of seven counts – two counts of engaging in sexual conduct in a foreign place, three counts of producing child pornography, and two counts of possessing child pornography.

Kevin Michael Dettmer, 34, first came to the attention of HSI when he responded to a personal ad posted by an undercover HSI special agent. According to court documents, Dettmer began soliciting images from individuals he believed to be 12 and 13-year-old children.

William Lee Niver, 49, of Houston, was sentenced Feb. 17 by U.S. District Judge Gray Miller to 360 months in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child, otherwise known as production of child pornography.

Alfred Pabon, 49, was arrested at his residence in the Bronx, New York. On the morning of his arrest, he had admitted to law enforcement that he had used his account to copy and forward images and videos containing child pornography as recently as within the last month. 

Jerry Glen Moran Jr., 63, of Perris, was taken into custody without incident pending an arraignment in U.S. District Court. Moran is named in a four-count indictment handed down Feb. 8 charging him with one count of advertising child pornography, two counts of distributing child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.