News Releases and Statements

Robbie Newby, 46, of Grapeland, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 17, 2013; he pleaded guilty Jan. 9, 2014 to sexually exploiting children. Newby was sentenced April 23 to 30 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Keith Farnham, 66, of Elgin, Ill., allegedly possessed two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin in March.

According to the indictments, each of the defendants had contact, via the Internet, with Minor #1 and enticed Minor #1 to engage in sexual conduct and transmit it over the Internet.

David Michael Wilson, 31, of Delano, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer K. Thurston to one count of receiving or distributing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

HSI special agents arrested Benerado Mercado-Rivera, of Humacao, immediately after he showed up at Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas where he was supposed to meet what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Alan Gregory Ender, 58, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to comply with Sex Offender Registration and Notification by Chief U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway. He pleaded guilty to the charges Nov. 14, 2013.

Albert Buck Hibbert, 43, was arrested April 3 after he gave consent to HSI special agents to search his home and personal computers. A forensic preview of his laptop computer revealed images of children between 3 and 10 years old being sexually exploited.

Lance Robert Fries, 43, was sentenced Wednesday to 297 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps. In addition to the prison term, Fries will be subject to lifetime supervised release with stringent conditions, including registration as a sex offender.

Hector Manuel Carreon, 47, was convicted earlier this year in state court of 16 counts of conducting lewd acts with children under the age of 14. The case was prosecuted by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Erik E. Cryderman, 47, of Bismarck, was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on a charge of possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Cryderman had previously pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 21.

Fredy Arbito, 31, of Hightstown, N.J., previously pleaded guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court. As part of his guilty plea, Arbito admitted that from July 2011 to January 2013 he made contact with a young girl over a video chat messaging system and coerced her to engage in sexually explicit conduct via webcam.

William Zimmerman was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release following his prison sentence. He also will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is a good time to visit the ICE exhibit and see the highway sign that represents Operation Sunflower, a child exploitation case led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Matthew Cenac faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, if convicted.

As part of the effort, Cumulus will air on their four western New York stations a 60-second PSA, which features HSI Buffalo Special Agent in Charge James Spero discussing some basic tips on how parents and young people can avoid online predators.

HSI New Orleans launched the iGuardian campaign in Louisiana Wednesday with the first presentation in the state before approximately 150 middle school students at St. Cletus Catholic School in Gretna.

HSI special agents arrested Roberto Quiles-Ayala, 24, after a federal grand jury charged him with transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Bobby Cruz, 34, pleaded guilty in September to one count of interstate travel to engage in sex with a minor and two counts of producing child pornography. This plea agreement resolved separate federal cases that were brought in both the Northern and Central districts of Illinois.

Tyrell Daniels, 20, of Abilene, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in November 2013 on a related federal criminal complaint. A federal grand jury indicted him later that month on one count of enticing a child, and one count of producing child pornography.

The story features a case referred to the HSI Cyber Crimes Center (C3) by Danish police in September 2012, which uncovered child abuse images on the Darknet's The Onion Router, or Tor, that were believed to have originated in the United States.

Scott Deppish, 43, from Junction City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of accessing child pornography with intent to view.

Jason B. Nolan, 37, of Gibsonia, Pa., was sentenced Friday after being convicted of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.

Garron Gonzalez, 38, of Bismarck, was found guilty by a federal jury of attempting to persuade a 15-year-old child to send him sexually explicit visual depictions using a cell phone. The two had met while playing an online video game.

Jose Alberto Centurion-Cruz, aka Jose Alberto Cruz, 30, was indicted by a federal grand jury in northern California in January 2013 for possession and distribution of child pornography.

Jose Palermos, 43, a citizen of Mexico who was residing in Philadelphia, was arrested May 16, 2013, by the Philadelphia Police Department on child exploitation related charges. The victim was a 7-year-old girl.