News Releases and Statements

Christopher Aubrey Harlan used his computer, as well as his roommate's computer for a brief time, to access child pornography on various websites. He used those computers, as well as his cellphone, to send and receive numerous images of child pornography.

Michael Thomas Sechrist, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen following his April 3 guilty plea to one count of production of child pornography.

Thomas Edler, 48, has been charged with three counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Joshua Matthew Cline, 28, received an automatic 25-year sentence without parole on each charge Monday after pleading guilty in April to two counts of child rape. Cline was previously sentenced to more than 27 years in federal prison for production of child pornography in August 2011.

James Hanna, 67, was arrested after a concerned parent contacted local law enforcement in Aug 2012 to report that Hanna had sexually assaulted two girls. After interviewing the minors, HSI special agents along with Madison County deputies executed a search warrant at Hanna's residence where they seized multiple images containing child pornography.

Joshua I. Suter, 24, of San Angelo, Texas, pleaded guilty July 5 before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to one count of possessing child pornography.

Juan H. Matos-Gonzalez and Vanessa Rios-Negron allegedly transported a 14-year-old female minor (Jane Doe) to a hotel in Ponce with the intent for her to engage in criminal sexual activity. On Feb. 28, 2012, Rios-Negron told Jane Doe that Matos-Gonzalez would pay them $200 each to watch them engage in sexually explicit conduct together.

Brian Robert Heinrich, 37, of Denver, is being held at the Weld County (Colorado) Jail on charges of attempted sexual assault on a child and attempted sexual exploitation of a child.

Lee Baca was arraigned Tuesday on child pornography charges, which resulted from an investigation by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Wade Robert Hoover was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 40 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child pornography. Between 2008 and 2012, Hoover sexually abused two children and took pictures and video of that abuse.

John David Boyle, a teacher at Royal Oak Middle School in Covina who was arrested last month by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) following an undercover sting in his classroom, was indicted Tuesday for child exploitation offenses.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested Andres Daniel Lopez-Martinez Wednesday for allegedly transporting a 14-year-old female to a local motel in Vega Baja with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Lee David Shropshire, 35, was sentenced June 24 to 170 months in prison by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow. In addition to the prison term, Shropshire will be subject to lifetime supervised release. Shropshire pleaded guilty March 20 to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Brian Perron formerly of Wood Dale, Ill., pleaded guilty in April 2012 and admitted that he had sexually molested two children when he was 19 years old. Perron was arrested in July 2009 after HSI agents executed a search warrant at his home and seized a computer hard drive that contained 97 images and 21 videos depicting child pornography.

46 year-old Mark Noyes, of Beaworthy, United Kingdom, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in a United Kingdom prison for numerous sexual offenses against children. Noyes had deliberately accessed a social networking site from his home in order to befriend and groom two vulnerable 12-year-old American girls.

Niyaz Sainudeen of Bethlehem, Pa., was sentenced Tuesday to 151 months in federal prison for distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. During a March 2012 search of Sainudeen's computer, HSI special agents discovered hundreds of images and dozens of videos of child pornography.

Andres Ruiz-Huertas, a 60-year-old man charged with production of child pornography, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF).

27-year-old Benjamin Mahoney was sentenced to five years in a United Kingdom prison for enticing two minor girls residing in Maine to perform sex acts on each other in front of a web camera following a joint investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the South Wales Police.

John Robert Stevens, III, knowingly downloaded child pornography in 2011 from the Internet to his personal computer, including many images of children younger than 12 years old, as well as images depicting the sadistic and violent treatment of children.

Michael J. Barndt, a Pennsylvania man who allegedly traveled to Delaware to engage in sexual relations with an individual whom Barndt believed to be a 14-year-old girl, was arrested Wednesday at a Delaware shopping mall.

In September 2012, officers with the Fort Worth Police ICAC Unit executed a search warrant at Richard D. Anderson's home and seized computers and removable storage media. A forensic exam of these seized items revealed images and videos of child pornography.

John J. Frazer, 32, of Silvis, Ill., was sentenced June 20 by U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow, Central District of Illinois, to 300 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Frazer pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 6.

On more than one occasion, Jorge Mercado-Flores transported a 14-year-old female minor to engage in criminal sexual activity with her. He was arrested by HSI special agents Wednesday.

James Arthur Abney used cell phones to search the Internet for child pornography images. He saved images of child pornography on his cellphones and downloaded some images into his computer's hard drive.

Alan Clifton, of Halethorpe, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and 30 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett. Judge Bennett ordered that, upon his release from prison, Clifton must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee and where he is a student, under SORNA.