News Releases and Statements

Specifically, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Ulises Sandoval, 27, to 300 months on the production conviction, and 240 months on the possession conviction; the sentences will run concurrently.

Stephen Ardrey, 30, was arrested Sept. 12, 2013, when he was located walking with the victim along a Coventry, R.I., highway three days after the victim had been reported missing from her home in Medfield, Mass.

Harry K. Roche, 43, was convicted in 2003 in Delaware of using a computer to depict a child engaging in a prohibited sexual act and possession of child pornography, which involved Roche producing sexually explicit images of children in his Magnolia apartment.

HSI special agents arrested Jose Fernando Rodriguez-Vargas after they received information from the Puerto Rico Police Department regarding Rodriguez-Vargas's attempt to use his cellular telephone to clandestinely take photographs of a 14-year-old girl at a local supermarket.

Kristopher K. Sims, 30, of Augusta, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography. In his plea, Sims admitted that on Nov. 20, 2012, he made a recording, via the Internet, of a 12-year-old girl engaging in a sexual act.

Juan Carlos Hernandez, 44, is charged with enticing a minor online to engage in illicit sexual activity, and interstate travel to meet a minor with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. He remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and detention hearing, which have yet to be scheduled.

Jonathan Scott Lee took sexually explicit photos of an 11-year-old girl and shared them on the Internet. Forensic analysis of digital media seized from Lee's home revealed thousands of images and videos of child exploitation.

William Vergara-Alamo began text messaging with a 14-year-old girl, identified as Jane Doe, after she mistakenly called his cellphone. Within two weeks of communicating with her, Vergara-Alamo asked Jane Doe to send him photographs of herself.

Michael Joseph Pepe, a retired Marine Corps captain who was convicted of drugging and sexually abusing girls in Cambodia, was sentenced Friday to 210 years in federal prison.

Kirk A. Simmons, 59, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release following his prison sentence of at least five years to life. Simmons also will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

Using the screen name "mikecoach73," Michael J. Barndt engaged in a series of explicit online chat conversations with an undercover special agent. Special agents seized his smartphone after his arrest and upon forensic review, found it to contain approximately 15,000 images of teenage females who were suggestively dressed or nude.

HSI special agents arrested Carlos Suarez at a local department store in the municipality of Carolina after a preliminary investigation revealed he produced and attempted to produce sexually explicit images of an 11-year-old girl by secretly recording the minor with his cellular telephone.

David Wayne Sweet, Jr. took 24 sexually explicit pictures of a prepubescent girl while she slept as well as while nude in a bathtub. Sweet was arrested on Sept. 27, and admitted that he inappropriately touched the victim while she was sleeping and took the photos.

Robert Carey Evans, 58, of Waukesha, Wis., was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 14 counts of possessing materials containing child pornography.

Elliot R. Duke, 30, of Leesville, who was an active duty soldier assigned to Fort Polk at the time of his arrest, previously pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to receiving child pornography. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi sentenced Duke to a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison.

Benjaman Shelabarger, 36, of Dallas Center, Iowa, was sentenced to 210 months in prison on child pornography conviction. Shelabarger was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

According to HSI special agents, Jason Daniel Gandy, 37, frequently traveled to the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio; he also traveled overseas to the Philippines and Bali, Indonesia.

Aaron Bruno Finn, 57, was arrested in 2012 by Canadian customs officials at the Beaver Creek, Yukon, border crossing on the Alaska Highway for importation of child pornography. According to court documents, Finn transported more than 600 images of child pornography on two laptop computers from the U.S. into Canada.

According to documents filed in the case, Jose Fidencio Perez, 40, of Seagraves, Texas, used a file-sharing program on his computer to download child pornography. During his search, Perez downloaded and viewed numerous videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Juan Gonzalez, 60, of Palm Bay, must also serve 10 years of supervised release following his prison term.

Carl Skow, a Georgia man who attempted to purchase a 14-year-old girl from an undercover federal agent, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for enticing a child to engage in illegal sexual activity.

According to the indictment, in October 2013, Miriam Kizzie, 21, and Anthony Pledger, 26, conspired with each other to sex traffic two minors and transport the minors between Massachusetts and Rhode Island to engage in prostitution. In July 2013, Kizzie allegedly trafficked two other minors.

Jorge Valadez, 53, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge George Kazen. This sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release and registration as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty to possessing four videos of child pornography Nov. 13, 2013.

Paul R. Kleinman, 34, of Jersey City and Verona, previously pleaded guilty to the charge Oct. 2, 2013, in U.S. District Court. As part of his guilty plea, Kleinman admitted that from September to October 2012 he used Skype and FaceTime to communicate online with a minor where he coerced the girl into engaging in sexual activity.

David Herman, 78, of Airmont, N.Y., and St. Croix, was arrested in October 2013 by HSI special agents at the St. Croix airport where he expected to meet the child. He was indicted Tuesday on one felony count of attempting to transport a minor to engage in sexual activity.