News Releases and Statements

Qayed Murtaza Shareef, 39, Aliso Viejo, was formally charged Friday with 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a child under 14; one felony count of using a minor for sex acts; one felony count of distributing pornography to a minor; one felony count of possession or control of child pornography, with a sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years old and committing lewd acts upon multiple victims.

This investigation, referred to as Operation Kingdom Conqueror, is an ongoing cooperative effort among the following agencies: Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); FBI; Montana Department of Criminal Investigations; Helena and Polson (Montana) police departments; Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and the States of Jersey Police Department, Isle of Jersey.

Harry K. Roche, 44, of Millsboro, Delaware, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison sentence and will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any place he lives, works or attends school.

Daniel Brown, 26, of Taylor, South Carolina, was convicted Jan. 22 for his role in this child pornography scheme. Five defendants previously pleaded guilty for their role in the conspiracy in October, 2014. Six additional defendants filed their notice to plead guilty in January 2015.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced William Craig Noonan, 39, of Houston, to 360 months in prison for each of the two counts of conspiracy to produce, and one count of distributing child pornography, as well as 120 months for possessing child pornography.

Aleksandar Randjelovich, 39, of Fair Oaks, was sentenced by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh F. Sigal prosecuted the case.

Kyle B. Rains, 31, of Park City, Kansas, was sentenced to 165 months in prison following his conviction on one count of distributing child pornography.

Kalif Hickey, 33, of Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison without parole.

Paul Lawrence Vella, 60, of Morgan Hill, was sentenced Jan. 15 to 59 months in prison for possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Brian John McRee, 51, of Jacksonville, attempted to entice a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity. Unbeknownst to him, the “girl” was a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity.

Gamaliel Cortez-Mendoza, 43, an illegal alien residing in Laredo was arrested Thursday following an investigation by the Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force led by HSI and the Webb County Sheriff's Office Cyber Crime Unit with assistance from Laredo Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Marshals Service.

According to the plea agreement, in April 2013, Nicholas Mitko Clark, 22, of Yulee, used an instant messaging service to chat with an individual in Canada, with whom he exchanged child pornography.

Ray Carl Short, 66, admitted in a plea agreement to hiding a video camera in the bedroom of a minor to capture images of the victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct. An undercover investigation by HSI special agents in Wilmington, Delaware, uncovered Short’s interest in online child pornography.

Brian P. Davis, 50, of Dundalk, was also ordered to serve a lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. following his prison sentence and register as a sex offender.

According to the plea agreement, between July 2012 and March 2014, Benjamin Cuadrado, 40, of Lakeland, coerced an infant and a toddler to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing multiple videos of the conduct.

During the six-week sting operation, authorities placed targeted ads for sexual services in an online publication known to promote prostitution-related activities. When the defendants called the telephone numbers listed, it was made clear that the services were being offered by underage girls. Arrangements were then made for the men to meet the girls at an Aurora hotel. They were taken into custody when they arrived.

Peter Eric Kirkeby, 26, of Barrie, Canada, is also charged with using telecommunication devices to commit the offense of sexual assault and creating child pornography, as well as soliciting a person to have illicit sexual intercourse.

Laiton Blake Witkowski, 42, of Stockton, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander to serve a lifetime of supervised release following his prison sentence and register as a sex offender.

Norman Paul Felts, 70, who lived on his boat in Ensenada, Mexico, was convicted Thursday following a bench trial in federal court. He has been in custody since his arrest by HSI agents in June 2013.

HSI special agents arrested Jean Carlos Rivera-Morales, 26, after an investigation that stemmed from a Jan. 7 referral from PRPD. An HSI investigation revealed that Rivera-Morales engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 6-year-old minor, and that he recorded one of the sexual acts with his cellular telephone.

According to court documents, law enforcement discovered Daniel Brown, 39, of Norfolk, during an investigation into a photo-sharing website known to be used for sharing child pornography.

On Jan. 21, 2014, HSI special agents arrested Raheem T. Creque, 37, for enticing and coercing a minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

Ramy Ahmed, a 32-year-old naturalized citizen from Egypt, was caught after HSI Philadelphia agents saw an illicit add he put up on Craigslist.com looking for a sexual encounter with a child and immediately intervened.

Dwight McEachin, 19, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. He was arrested by HSI special agents Dec. 15.