A Slew Of Wins For Federal, State & Military Law Enforcement On Child Sexual Abuse Cases
By a Biometrica Staffer
If you talk to any investigator working in child protection, he or she would tell you it is a mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting job, because of the nature of often horrifying crimes they are constantly investigating, the fact that the lives of child victims are at stake, and the often frustrating wait times involved in getting access to and finding the perpetrators of these crimes because they work through the darkest corners of the dark web.
But they would also tell you that every time you manage to find one more potential predator, and possibly save another child, it makes it all worth it. This is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, so success during this month is even sweeter. Working in tandem with local, state and international law enforcement, agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) had a slew of wins over the past week and the beginning of this one in bringing arrests and helping secure indictments in child sex abuse and child exploitation cases.
Biometrica wraps up some of the cases that made the news:
Oregon Man Charged After Stalking And Exploiting Australian Minor
Jorge Rosales, of Beaverton, Oregon, has been charged with federal child exploitation crimes after using various social media applications, including Snapchat and TikTok, to stalk and sexually exploit a minor victim from Australia.
On April 23, Rosales was charged with sexually exploiting children, distributing and possessing child pornography, cyberstalking, and enticing a minor online.
According to court documents, in April 2021, a special agent from HSI received an investigative referral from INTERPOL and the Australian Federal Police related to the sexual exploitation of a then-nine-year-old victim in Australia.
In 2016 or 2017 Rosales began communicating with the minor victim using Musical.ly, a social media application now known as TikTok. Rosales claimed he was a 36-year-old male named Alex.
Over a period of months, Rosales engaged the minor in a series of progressively more sexually explicit conversations even after the minor told him she was nine years old.
Rosales sent the minor sexually explicit photos and videos to demonstrate how she could engage in various sex acts.
These materials included photos and videos of older men having sex with toddlers and young girls.
Rosales encouraged the victim to produce and send him sexually explicit photos and videos of herself. When the victim declined, he threatened to turn her friends and family against her, and, sent her photos of animals beaten until injured. Eventually, the minor victim sent naked photos of herself to Rosales.
Rosales later began communicating with the minor victim using Snapchat, wherein he would send her videos of himself masturbating.
He claimed he could see where the victim lived on Snap Map, a Snapchat feature where users can see the location of various Snaps, and threatened to come get her if she didn’t continue sending him explicit photos.
These threats prompted the victim to send Rosales additional naked photos and videos, which she produced at his request.
Australian investigators obtained and sent to HSI the TikTok subscriber record for the first account Rosales used to communicate with the minor victim.
This record included IP addresses later matched to Rosales’ mobile phone and Beaverton residence.
Investigators from HSI searched the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline Reports and found 13 reports connected to Rosales’ mobile phone and home internet connection.
Rosales was arrested on April 21, 2021, and made his initial appearance in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta.
Texas Man Gets 10 Years For Possession Of Child Pornography
Timothy Lynn Vandeventer, who was found to be in possession of 110,000 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) pornography was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Vandeventer pled guilty to the offence in November 2020.
According to court documents, HSI special agents learned that Vandeventer was downloading CSAM from the internet to an IP address at his residence in Alvarado, Texas.
Vandeventer purchased child pornography on the internet through a website advertising CSAM, downloading it to his laptop and external hard drives to ease access to the illicit content.
Vandeventer also printed images of the illegal sexual exploitation materials for his viewing.
HSI Honolulu Assists Military Law Enforcement In Undercover Op Targeting Child Predators
In O’ahu, Hawaii, two active duty soldiers and one active duty marine were arrested for using online platforms to solicit sex from agents posing as children.
The military members also sent explicit photographs of themselves and asked for explicit photographs in return. Each was arrested when they tried to meet up with the undercover agents. They face charges relating to the solicitation of minors.
The undercover operation, Operation Keiki Shield, was conducted as part of the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and included agents from HSI Honolulu, NCIS, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division, and the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Reno Man Indicted For Receiving, Possessing Child Pornography
Ryan Thomas Eley, of Reno, was taken into federal custody for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material after making his initial court appearance on last Monday.
Eley received and possessed USB flash drives, an external hard drive, and a cell phone that contained images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Eley with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
If convicted, Eley faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison.