News Releases and Statements

Lucas J. Reinmann, 34, of Boonton, was arrested by HSI special agents at his home. He appeared Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court and was released on a $150,000 bond.

From July 2011 to Jan. 28, Fredy Arbito knowingly coerced an 11-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of transmitting it live over the Internet.

Officers located Aaron Charles Lustfeldt, 27, of Big Spring, Texas, who admitted being in the park, but denied doing anything inappropriate, stating that he was not supposed to be at the park because he was a registered sex offender.

Robert Carey Evans, 58, of Waukesha, Wis., was convicted following a four day trial by a 12-person jury on 14 counts of possessing materials containing child pornography. The jury deliberated for three hours before returning its guilty verdicts.

Michael Eales repeatedly sexually assaulted an 18-month-old child during live Skype video chats with an individual in Louisiana who recorded four of the live visual depictions.

Operation Predator Alert, a joint state and federal child predator crackdown, resulted in charges against 14 New Jersey men who used an Internet file-sharing network to download and distribute child pornography.

Tracy Jay Chappell, 40, from Jasper, Texas, pleaded guilty July 11 before U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone to possessing child pornography. Chappell was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison Oct. 28.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, working jointly with Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF) officers, arrested Friday two men from Rincon and Ponce, respectively, on child exploitation charges.

According to court documents, Stephen Anthony Paulsen, 54, of Fort Worth, used an online social networking application to send sexually explicit messages to an individual he believed was a 15-year-old boy for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

Dwight L. Looney, 62, from Fort Worth, Texas, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.

Jose Fidencio Perez, 40, of Seagraves, Texas, who remains on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

Paul Dunn, 50, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty June 7 to federal charges of receiving child pornography.

David Herman, 77, of Airmont, N.Y., and St. Croix, was arrested by HSI special agents at the St. Croix airport where he expected to meet the child. He is scheduled to appear Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon for an initial appearance in St. Croix federal court.

Felipe Jesus Parra-Flores admitted there would be files depicting child pornography on his laptop, and that it was his child pornography. The forensic examiner located more than 1,000 files which depicted images and videos of child pornography on Parra-Flores' laptop and hard drives.

The head of the Firebaugh Boys and Girls Club, Juan Martin Torres, was indicted Thursday on federal child sexual exploitation charges. Torres allegedly offered to give a 14-year-old victim credit for community service in exchange for engaging in sexual acts.

Thomas Rafferty, 67, of Levittown, Pa., was arrested by HSI special agents Aug. 8 at his home. If convicted of the charges, Rafferty faces up to 200 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $2.25 million fine.

Justin Craig Smith was ordered held without bond last week following his indictment by a federal grand jury for sexually exploiting two children, and possessing and distributing child pornography. Forensic evaluation of Smith's computer uncovered images of his sexually molesting children, as well as a large collection of toddler videos.

Michael Dale Irwin, 27, was sentenced Wednesday to 210 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett.

Michael David Wilson, 30, was indicted July 25 for receiving and distributing child pornography and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

A Kansas long-haul truck driver, Joshua David Bellah, was indicted in federal court Wednesday for transporting child pornography across state lines. This crime is alleged to have occurred Oct. 11 when he drove from Oklahoma to Kansas with two laptop computers containing child pornography.

According to court documents, Allen Trent Carter, 53, of McCammon, Idaho, was identified during the course of an investigation into his son, Bradley Vaine, 27, of Fresno.

Joshua I. Suter, 24, of San Angelo, Texas, has been in custody since his release was revoked earlier this month.

Carlos Manuel Cruz, 40, was sentenced Thursday to 5 years, 6 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

During the interview, Colby William Ochsenhirt admitted he viewed the child pornography video. He did not know whether the video was a live stream, meaning he did not know if the child was being victimized at the time he viewed it.