News Releases and Statements

William Allen Patterson, 34, of Alamogordo, New Mexico, will be sentenced to 78 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he will also be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his sentence.

Troy A. Paul, 48, pleaded guilty Aug. 16 admitting to viewing images of child pornography on a Russian photo sharing website several times between January and June 2014. Paul further confessed to viewing child pornography emailed to him approximately 100 times using the iPhone assigned by his employer.

Fernando Morales, 50, was initially contacted Aug. 23 at his residence by the Nampa Police Department after a 16-year-old called 911.

On Dec. 30, 2016, U.S. District Judge John McBryde sentenced Robert Eugene Sanders, 74, of Hood County, Texas, to 360 months in federal prison, fined him $10,000, and ordered him to pay nearly $65,000 in restitution. Sanders pleaded guilty in July 2016 to one count of producing child pornography.

Colonel Robert J. Rice, 58 was arrested in May 2014 following an HSI led investigation of his online activities.  In May 2016, following a five-day jury trial, Rice was found guilty for knowingly possessing child pornography from Aug. 2010 through Jan. 29, 2013, and receiving and distributing child pornography through the internet from Jan. 23, 2013 through Jan. 28, 2013.

Kenneth Breslin, 68, of Lafayette, is charged in an indictment with knowingly possessing one or more images of prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Until last month, Breslin had been the owner and director of A Child’s Point of View, which provided adolescent, adult and family psychotherapy from an office located in Orinda. Breslin was prohibited from practicing psychology following a Contra Costa Superior Court order issued Nov. 28.

Timothy Paul Barth, 66, is charged with possession and receipt of child pornography. He is currently in federal custody.

Tristalyn Valencia, 30, from Farmington, New Mexico, must also register as a sex offender after she's released from prison.

Mackenzy Scott, 21, of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He had previously pleaded guilty to the charge on September 20, 2016. A co-defendant in this matter, Cristian Garcia, 21, also of Providence, pleaded guilty in May 2016 to his role in the conspiracy. He was sentenced on October 27, 2016, to 24 months in federal prison to be followed by 5 years supervised release.

Timinson Erin Jackson, 25, appeared before U.S. District Judge Randy Crane Dec. 13 and was ordered to serve 120 months in prison.

Jeremy Matthew Meyerett, 41, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips to 240 months in prison. Meyerett pleaded guilty in June to producing child pornography in a case arising from an undercover probe by the Queensland Police Service in Australia.

Jesus Villalobos, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Hayden Head to 300 months in prison. In handing down this sentence, Judge Head noted that Villalobos has a career of criminal activity which includes violence. 

San Francisco HSI special agents began investigating Trask in March 2012 after he allegedly downloaded a video of child pornography though a peer-to-peer (P2P) network using an internet protocol (IP) address that traced back to his San Francisco residence. On May 1, 2012, HSI executed a federal search warrant at Trask's residence. Within a week of the search, Trask quit his job and relocated to San Diego, advising HSI he was staying with family who resided there.

Cedrick Vaughn Perkins, age 20, of Orangeville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment on child pornography distribution charges, ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution, and to register as a sex offender.

Michael Yellowhorse, 29, of Denver, Colorado, was charged by criminal complaint Dec. 23, 2014. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver Jan. 7, 2015. He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson March 3, 2016; he was sentenced Dec. 7.

Erik Leonardus Peeters, 48, of Norwalk, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder. In addition to the prison term of nearly 22 years, Judge Snyder ordered Peeters to pay $15,000 in restitution to his victims. 

Michael James Cortsen, 40, from Lake Jackson, Texas, was sentenced Dec. 6 by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo who ordered Cortsen to serve 180 months in prison. Judge Marmolejo also ordered Corsten to serve 20 years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

David M. Adams, 30, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls on information charging him with one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

Lawrence McCollum, 62, of Seattle, first caught the attention of law enforcement when an HSI special agent downloaded child pornography files via a peer-to-peer file sharing program linked to McCollum’s residence.

William Shyu, 32, of Lisle, Illinois, agreed to a seven-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections in exchange for pleading guilty to involuntary sexual servitude of a minor. Kane County Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti accepted Shyu’s plea Dec. 2. 

Nicholas Pagliuca, 65, of Mamaroneck, New York, allegedly downloaded hundreds of files containing images and videos of child pornography.

On June 30, 2015, HSI agents, Providence Police detectives and members of the Human Trafficking Task Force located the victim in Harris’ apartment in Providence and rescued her. Investigators discovered numerous nude photographs of the 17-year-old victim on Harris’ cell phone.

According to Honduran officials, Marco Antonio Argueta-Rubio, 23, allegedly forced a 13-year-old girl into his vehicle, transported her to a motel and raped her. In June 2016, Argueta-Rubio was apprehended in the Texas Rio Grande Valley while attempting to illegally enter the United States. In July, Honduran officials issued a warrant of arrest for Argueta-Rubio after he failed to report for court proceedings.