News Releases and Statements

The judge also ordered him to forfeit the laptop computer and cellphone that he had used to commit the offense. Nicholas Mitko Clark, 22, of Yulee, pleaded guilty Jan. 13, 2015.

Samir Wadi, 41, of Sedona, was taken into custody just prior to boarding an outbound flight. Investigators noted that the defendant, who was free on bond awaiting trial on child pornography charges in Yavapai County, was traveling with a large amount of luggage and left his luxury vehicle unlocked in the airport parking lot with the keys inside.

HSI special agents contacted the DPF in Sorocaba, Brazil advising of a male suspect from Sorocaba who allegedly stored more than 10,000 files of child pornography on the Internet.

U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced Anselmo Venegas, 61, from Laredo, Texas to 100 months in federal prison to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Upon release from prison, Venegas will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Christopher Brown, 42, was taken into custody Friday in a local shopping center parking lot by investigators assigned to the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force (OCCETF), including special agents with ICE HSI and deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Oscar Avila-Osorio, 24, is wanted in his home country for raping a minor and was the subject of an Interpol notice.

Richard Adam Hall, 53, was sentenced following an investigation by ICE's HSI, the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department and Armstrong State University’s Police Department.

Christina Cortez, 38, of Corpus Christi, and Matthew Harbin, 29, a convicted sex offender from Alabama and a fugitive who lived in Brownsville, Texas, both pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to producing child pornography. The pleas were accepted by Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head.

Michael Edwin Harding, 27, of Port St. Lucie, was charged with receiving and distributing material involving sexual exploitation of minors and with possession of child pornography.

The indictment alleges that from April to August, Terrence J. O’Connor, 52, of Urbana, Illinois, received and possessed images and videos of minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Johnathan Brent Wulf, 61, posted an ad on Craigslist, beginning a conversation with an undercover HSI special agent. Using both the phone and the Internet, Wulf expressed his desire to have sex with the agent’s fictional 12-year-old stepdaughter.

Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., 70, of Central City, Pennsylvania, was convicted of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, possession of child pornography and international money laundering.

Jeffrey Parkhurst, 58, of Springfield, made his initial appearance in federal court in Urbana late Friday on a charge of enticing a minor.

Talon G. Wright, 39, of Urbana, was sentenced Sept. 21 by U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce, Central District of Illinois, to 15 years in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release after his release from prison.

According to court documents, between Dec.10, 2014, and Feb. 12, 2015, Sandi S. McGann, 30, of St. Petersburg, communicated online and attempted to persuade a 14-year-old "child" to engage in illegal sexual activity with him.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Deswan Newsome, 19, from Amarillo, admitted that from about March 30 to April 3, he attempted to recruit a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

Michael Van Culin, 31, of Monroeville, New Jersey, allegedly obtained sexually explicit photos and videos of four underage girls; three of whom were 14 to 16 years old at the time of the alleged conduct and one who was 17.

In 12 years since the launch, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors and sex trafficking of children.

Hugo Banda, 28, pleaded guilty in March 2015 after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and Scranton Police Department investigation.

Taylor Alan Mills, 29, and Christopher Alan Rue, 39, both of Rockport, Texas, and James Robert Kirkland, 48, of Corpus Christi, were all charged separately by criminal complaint this week for online solicitation of a minor.

Dujuan Harris, 35, of Providence, was indicted on one count each of sex trafficking a child, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and witness tampering.

Donald Haring, 60, of Long Branch, was charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

On Sept. 3, HSI special agents arrested Wilfredo Rivera-Ruiz, 49, of Carolina, for possessing and transporting child pornography. On Sept. 9, Waldemar Cuadrado-Tolentino, 34, of Bayamon, was arrested for downloading child pornography through a file sharing application. One day later HSI special agents arrested Efrain Rivas-Santiago, 67, of Carolina, for transporting and possessing child pornography involving prepubescent minors. Likewise, on Sept. 14, Angel M. Acevedo-Cruzado, 35, of Camuy and Carlos Rafael Ocasio-Febres, 20, of Gurabo, were arrested on child exploitation charges.

David N. Adams, 29, of Branchburg, New Jersey, was charged with one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Following his court appearance he was detained pending a bail hearing.

Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. These young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical and emotional scars. One of the top priorities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is to combat child exploitation, and rescue these innocent victims from further abuse.