News Releases and Statements

The investigation into the website Maksym Shynkarenko operated has led to convictions in 47 states of 600 American child pornographers.

Law enforcement intercepted Gerrett Conover of Woolwich Township, at the U.S. border Sept. 16, 2012, coming from Canada into New York. He was in possession of a laptop containing images of sexually exploited children.

According to court documents, on Feb. 1, 2013, Alberto Morales possessed between 300 and 600 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Forensic examination of computer equipment seized from Sean Lawrence in a library and at his residence revealed he had downloaded more than 10,000 still images and 200 videos of child pornography.

Larry Michael Bollinger was a former minister who performed missionary work in Haiti. From in or about August 2009 to October 2009, Bollinger sexually molested four Haitian females between the ages of 11 and 16.

Charles Allen Nave III had more than 300 images and 20 videos of child pornography in his possession.

William George Gray, 51, was ordered to serve seven years and three months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian W. Enos is prosecuting the case.

John Kuhl gave a cell phone to a female minor and coerced her to take explicit photographs of herself and send them to him. Law enforcement began investigating this incident after they learned Kuhl inappropriately touched four other minors during a boat trip in Newport.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings remanded Jose Francisco Madrigal Jr., 43, of Plainview, Texas, into custody; he had been released on bond.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Stephen Carpenter, 33, of Slaton, Texas, used a file-sharing program to search for child pornography. He downloaded and viewed many video files of children being sexually exploited.

Leon Perry Brooks Sr. was indicted on two counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

A computer forensics analysis of computer equipment belonging to Lawrence Flack, who had previously been convicted of sexual battery against a minor, identified more than 7,500 images and videos, some portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct.

Royce DeWeese, 26, of Cherry Hill, N.J., was sentenced to 108 months in prison. Following his sentence he will serve a lifetime term of supervised release.

Heriberto Pena-Salazar, 25, must also serve 15 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

In addition to his 348-month prison sentence, David Anthony Baker, 35, of Howe, Okla., was also sentenced to life on supervised release.

Mark James Williams was charged and convicted for possessing child pornography, which he attempted to delete from his computer the day before he left for a cruise to Costa Rica to smuggle cocaine.

Five men in southern Iowa were sentenced recently in separate prosecutions to nearly 44 years in prison combined for their unrelated roles in trading online child pornography.

Carlos Santiago Garcia posed online under the pseudonym Xavier Constatinos. He also purported to be a minor female on Facebook to lure and recruit another minor female victim to meet him to travel out of state to engage in sexual acts.

Stephen Wayne Sudduth, 38, of Sealy, Texas, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas. Sudduth will receive credit for the more than three years he has been in federal custody since his arrest.

'John Doe' was arrested Monday evening at a residence near Jonesboro after HSI received nearly 50 tips from the public via the HSI Tip Line.

Paul Harvilicz, 62, of Copperas Cove, Texas, has been in custody since he was arrested in Waco, Texas, March 27 on related charges. Harvilicz pleaded guilty in August to a superseding indictment charging one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor.

According to the criminal complaint, Leo De la Rosa-Meran, 45, engaged in sexually explicit telephone conversations with two 17-year-old female minors, both of whom he met through his church.

U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay remanded Travis Olt, 40, of Irving, Texas, who had been released on bond, into custody.

Christopher Allen Morace, 31, of Clinton, pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to possessing child pornography. HSI special agents searched his Hinds County residence May 31, 2012, and seized an external hard drive that included child pornography.

Rex D. McBride, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to 63 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. McBride pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 18.