News Releases and Statements

Former Illinois State Rep. Keith Farnham, 67, of Elgin, Illinois, was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and must report to prison May 19. He will remain on a bond that restricts him to his home and requires around-the-clock electronic monitoring.

Kenneth Simon Brzoznowski, from Midland Texas, was also ordered to be placed under supervised release for 10 years after he completes his federal prison term. On Oct. 17, 2014, Brzoznowski pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to entice a minor female to engage in sexual activity.

Justin Kinney, 26, of Newark, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of producing child pornography. Kinney was previously arrested and charged by federal complaint on April 20, 2014, and is currently in state custody on related charges.

Tony Lasiter, 33, of Duneweg, was sentenced to 23 years and 10 months in federal prison for one count of sexually exploiting a child. Lasiter previously pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 4, 2014.

Gabriel Toro, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

Rickie Sitler, age 57, allegedly persuaded and induced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images. The indictment alleges that Sitler committed the crime between November 2014 and Dec. 20, 2014.

The indictment alleges that between August 2013 and January 2015, Robert Ferraro, 44, persuaded and induced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images.

John Dale Clark, 61, of Newton, was sentenced March 17 to 180 months in federal prison for sexually exploiting a child by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield. Clark was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 4, 2013, and pleaded guilty Oct. 28, 2014.

HSI special agents arrested Gabriel Rodriguez-Pacheco, 30, of Yauco, for allegedly persuading, enticing and coercing two female minors, 16 and 17 years of age, to engage in sexually explicit conduct, namely the lascivious exhibition of their genital areas, for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.

William Akers, 46, is in federal custody facing child pornography charges following a public outreach campaign by HSI to identify a previously unknown man captured on video sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.

Gregory Bogomol, 39, a former teacher at Denton High School pleaded guilty in October 2014 to an indictment charging two counts of producing child pornography. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 360 months in federal prison for each count, to run consecutively, for a total of 720 months in federal prison.

Tommie J. Beason, 37, of Franklin, previously admitted during his guilty plea in October 2014 that he downloaded 230 images and 88 videos of hardcore child pornography. The files included prepubescent child pornography and also sadistic content.

Roxanne Merrell, 35, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, was convicted on one count of producing child pornography after a three-day jury trial. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Jamie Sailas, 29, of Brighton, Colorado, was arrested based on a Criminal Complaint charging one count each of producing, transporting and possessing child pornography. Sailas appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge where he was advised of his rights, and the charges pending against him. He is being held in custody pending a detention and preliminary hearing scheduled for March 17.

Dylan Jordan, 24, of Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced March 12 to 10 years in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, after his conviction on one count of traveling in foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Jordan pleaded guilty to this charge Oct. 16, 2014.

Jason Christopher Paur, 44, of Seattle, pleaded guilty last week in Canada to possession of child pornography and two counts of secretly observing/recording nudity and was sentenced to time served. He was arrested in December 2013 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after female students discovered a hidden camera in their room.

Edward Orth, 25, of Phoenix, was taken into custody Feb. 25 by HSI special agents based on evidence uncovered during the execution of a state search warrant related to possible child pornography violations. At the time of his arrest, Orth was employed at LifeTime Fitness in Scottsdale as an assistant in the center’s KinderPrep section where he had regular contact with children. He remains in state custody at this time on a $25,000 bond.

The suspect appears in a child pornography video seized as part of the investigation into Bailey Mills, a Sanford man convicted of multiple sex offenses involving children. Elizabeth Mills, Bailey’s wife, identified the man in the video as Peter Gilbert, but HSI Raleigh special agents believe that name is an alias and request the public’s assistance in finding him.

Stanley Dan Reczko III, 50, who resided in the Koreatown District of Los Angeles, was found guilty of the charge by U.S. District Judge George H. King, who issued his ruling Tuesday afternoon from the bench. The charges are the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The officers received training on the Child Protection System, a software program used by law enforcement around the globe to assist with the identification of individuals trading child pornography online.

Daniel Chase Harris, 31, of Virginia Beach, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a superseding indictment Sept. 17. He was originally arrested by the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office in November 2013.

HSI special agents arrested Melvin Gomera-Rodriguez, 23, of San Juan, for allegedly downloading sexually explicit images depicting child pornography from a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing network, a method of communication available to Internet users in which computers linked together form a decentralized network that allows for the sharing of digital files between users of the network.

At trial, the government presented evidence that law enforcement had identified Richard Dale Brooks, 55, of Cocoa, while investigating individuals sharing child pornography via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program in May 2012. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Brooks' Jacksonville residence and discovered several computers containing child pornography.

Andrew Nicholas Evich, 67, of Everett, made his initial appearance in federal court Friday on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. According to the complaint, Evich was sharing images of child rape and molestation through a peer-to-peer file sharing program while posing as a 13-year-old boy. Evich’s profile caught the attention of HSI special agents investigating Internet child exploitation crimes. HSI special agents are still determining the origin of hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos obtained from Evich.

According to the testimony presented at trial, a new tenant moving into a condo recently vacated by Brian Robert Harling in July 2013found three thumb drives after they fell from molding inside of a closet. Harling, 58, was found guilty by a federal jury Dec. 3, 2014.