News Releases and Statements

Joshua Quick, 25, from Palestine, Texas, pleaded guilty Oct. 14, 2014 to receiving child pornography and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis. Quick was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he’s released from prison.

According to court documents, from Oct. 11, 2012, through Oct. 11, 2013, Michael Glenn Glascock, 39, of Merritt Island, used a three-year-old victim to produce visual depictions of the child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

According to court documents, Patrick R. Minga, 50, formerly of Cape Coral, used Craiglist to advertise a sex tourism business in Ecuador that could facilitate lodging, transportation, meals and unlimited access to females for a fee.

Based on HSI and NCMEC information, the Spanish Guardia Civil conducted a two-day law enforcement operation dubbed "Dustman" on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. They executed 47 simultaneous search warrants in 24 Spanish cities, arresting 26 suspected child predators.

Superior Court Judge in Mercer County, Timothy P. Lydon sentenced Celalletti Koc, 27, aka Steve, of Hamilton, New Jersey, to five years in state prison, including two and a half years of parole ineligibility. Koc pleaded guilty on Nov. 6, 2014, to distributing child pornography. Koc will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

Each of the defendants has been charged in a separate federal complaint, just unsealed, with attempting to entice a child. Each made his initial appearance in federal court Feb. 4 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte.

Hundreds of images of child pornography and more than a dozen videos were found in Ronald Rhodes's, 57, home after a December 2014 search warrant. The investigation by HSI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Uniontown Police Department is continuing with additional electronics and documents seized currently under forensic examination.

Ladestro Douglas, aka “Derek Douglas,” 35, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children. Douglas faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in federal prison. Sentencing is set for June 3.

Kuldip “Kelly” Singh Mahal, 47, of Surrey, British Columbia, made his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday. The criminal complaint filed in the case alleges Mahal answered a posting on the Vancouver Craigslist website and began communicating with an undercover HSI special agent posing as 12-year-old girl from northwest Washington.

According to court records, in May 2014 agents with HSI identified a computer that was being used to download suspected child pornography via the internet. A subsequent investigation revealed that the subscriber information for that computer returned to Raymond Freitas, 42, of Hackett.

HSI special agents arrested William Y. Maldonado-Rivera, 35, after an investigation stemming from a complaint by the victim's mother led to HSI special agents discovering that Maldonado-Rivera transported the minor from Peñuelas to a motel in Ponce with the intent to engage her in sexual criminal conduct.

Peter Alan Karl, 52, of West Fargo, North Dakota, was sentenced to serve 72 months in federal prison for receiving materials depicting minors being sexually exploited.

Shannon Logan, 35, of Urbana, was sentenced Feb. 1 to 25 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce, who found that Logan has engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse of a minor. In addition, Logan was ordered to register as a sex offender for natural life and to remain on supervised release for an additional 30 years following completion of his prison sentence.

Jeremiah Chayse Gardiner, 20, from Mesquite, Texas, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for May 20. Gardiner remains in federal custody.

According to court documents, between June 2013 and July 2014, Jude Thaddeus Danahy, 35, of Buffalo, New York, communicated via email and text messages with an undercover agent that he believed was the mother of an 11-year-old girl. Danahy was arrested July 1, 2014, and pleaded guilty Aug. 27. At sentencing, he was also ordered to forfeit the equipment he had used to commit the offense.

A sentencing date has not yet been set for Kevin Charles Kaszynski, 49, of Fort Myers. According to the plea agreement, while going through boxes that had been stored in a leased storage unit, Kaszynski’s estranged wife found a computer hard drive among other items belonging to her husband.

Kenneth Gaylord Stokes, 70, a U.S. citizen who resided near the city of Cebu in the Philippines, pleaded guilty Jan. 27 before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to five counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

Daniel Huzinec, 23, allegedly shared photographs of male children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on a peer-to-peer website. This conduct included the sexual abuse of male children by adult males and male children engaging in sexual activity with other male children.

On March 4, 2014, after a two-day trial in District Court, a jury found Tony Jefferson Browne, 31, guilty of 12 counts of federal child exploitation offenses involving four girls ranging from ages 12 to 17.

Darrin Evan Malley, 36, of Kalispell, Montana, was ordered to serve 120 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Malley pleaded guilty to the charges in October.

Jason Paul Roberts, 38, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2013 to one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Roberts will be required to register as a sex offender. He has been in custody since his arrest in September 2012 on a related federal indictment.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger also ordered James Thomas Lifsey, 59, of Warne, N.C. to serve under court supervision the rest of his life upon release from prison and to register as a sex offender. Lifsey was also ordered to pay $46,057 as restitution to the victims.

Patrik Arsenault, 28 of Norridgewock, was also ordered to serve a lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. following his prison sentence. Arsenault pleaded guilty July 8, 2014.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Reymundo Alejandro Sanchez, 21, of Abilene, Texas, used his cell phone to communicate with several people using a mobile application called Kik, as well as through Facebook and other means.

Erik Leroy Clark, 35, of Joplin, Missouri, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison without parole.