News Releases and Statements

John David Boyle, 52, of Glendora, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. At Monday's hearing, Judge Wilson said Boyle's crimes were "horrendous" and that "the damage done to the victims is incalculable."

Fifteen military veterans who successfully completed a one-year intensive computer forensics training program with U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have all been offered permanent positions with the agency to continue working in the fight against online child sexual exploitation.

Jesse Yang, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Judge Gonzalez Rogers also sentenced Yang to 10 years of supervised release.

Gary Joe Smith, 61, of Morgan, Texas, was sentenced by U.S District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. to serve 72 months imprisonment for possessing and distributing child pornography. Judge Smith also ordered him to serve five years of supervised release after he completes his sentence. Smith pleaded guilty to the charges March 6.

Manuel Fernandez, 33, of Wayne, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to one count of distribution of child pornography. Fernandez has been in custody since his arrest in January 2012.

The two-day bench trial of Michael T. Laursen, 47, came as a result of a multiagency investigation, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Laursen now faces up to 30 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years.

A federal grand jury in Harrisburg Wednesday indicted a U.S. Army colonel for possession and distribution of child pornography over the Internet. Colonel Robert J. Rice, 56, of Carlisle, is stationed at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.

Switzerland is the latest country to join the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), an international alliance of law enforcement and private sector agencies dedicated to combating online child sexual exploitation and other forms of transnational child sexual exploitation. An official signing-in ceremony was held in Brussels Tuesday, which was attended by both the U.S. and Swiss ambassadors to the European Union.

Tomas Steven Quiñones, 48, admitted to producing a video in December 2010 that contained child pornography. Specifically, Quiñones admitted to knowingly persuading and enticing two minors to take part in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video depiction of such conduct. In the video he is seen and heard instructing the children on how to have sex.

Israel Berrios-Berrios, a 58-year-old suspended Catholic priest, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and sexual trafficking of minors.

Nathan Brochstein, 40, of Wayside, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper in Trenton federal court to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Frederick Simonelli, 69, is charged in a March 26 federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday. According to court documents, an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) found Simonelli allegedly received child pornography through the Internet on at least two occasions in January 2012.

Shane Padilla, 30, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, a U.S. Air Force C-130 pilot stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, was initially arrested on the charges April 4. He faces between five years and 20 years in federal prison as well as a $250,000 fine if convicted of the charges.

Zackary Adam Knight was charged in a criminal complaint filed May 9 in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.

Kevin D. Woolsey, 22, of Jenks, Oklahoma, was sentenced by U.S. Court Judge Claire V. Eagan to serve 84 months, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. On Sept. 19, 2013, Woolsey was charged by sealed Information with receiving child pornography; he pleaded guilty to the charge Nov. 5. Woolsey targeted boys between 14 to 16 years old who primarily participated in the Boy Scouts or who were members of a church youth group.

Clayton L. Lakey, 34, of Billings, Montana, pleaded guilty to a charge of coercing and enticing a minor, and was sentenced May 7 to serve five years in federal prison.

Jason Thomas Dreyer, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to 60 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Gonzales Ramos also ordered Dreyer to follow these requirements:

Albert Rose, 55, of Lafayette, previously pleaded guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court. As part of his guilty plea, Rose admitted distributing images of child pornography via email using a computer located in his residence in February 2010.

Laiton Blake Witkowski, of Stockton, Maryland, had his initial appearance May 5 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Witkowski faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison for each of the two counts of production of child pornography; a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison for distribution of child pornography; and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the four counts of possession of child pornography.

Marcus Gabriel Henderson, 34, pleaded guilty in January to attempted production of child pornography and transportation of child pornography. Court records state Henderson came to the attention of law enforcement through an undercover child pornography investigation.

According to court documents, between November 28, 2012 and January 24, 2013, David Thomas Hume, 37, distributed more than 600 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images also depicted prepubescent minors involved in sadism, masochism and acts of violence.

HSI special agents arrested Edwin Maldonado-Burgos, 57, of Orocovis, after an investigation that stemmed from a referral from the Puerto Rico Department of Justice revealed that he transported a then 18-year-old mentally-disabled female, identified in the criminal complaint as Jane Doe, in order to engage in criminal sexual conduct.

Daniel Perry, a 17-year-old victim of an online blackmail attempt, died after jumping off the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh, Scotland, in July 2013.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa sentenced Jose Luis Garcia-Saldivar, 29, to 121 months imprisonment. Garcia-Saldivar pleaded guilty the charges Sept. 4, 2012. He admitted he intended to have sex with a minor for money. Garcia-Saldivar asked the victim to send him photographs from her cell phone of herself which included sexually explicit conduct. Garcia-Saldivar's sentence was enhanced because the minor victim was only 14 years of age at the time. Garcia-Saldivar will also be required to register as a sex offender.