November 20, 2007

ICE arrests Puerto Rican man for possession, receipt and production of child pornography

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico - 46-year-old who worked as a janitor at the Notre Dame private school in Caguas, Puerto Rico, was arrested here yesterday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents for possession, receipt and production of child pornography.

Acting on a referral from the ICE Cyber Crimes Center, ICE special agents arrested Carlos M. Martinez-Flores, from Caguas, Puerto Rico, after a forensic analysis of the electronic equipment seized during a search warrant revealed thousands of images depicting child pornography to include child pornography and content created by Martinez at his residence.

"All children have an absolute right to grow up free from the fear of sexual exploitation," said Manuel Oyola Torres, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in San Juan. "ICE relentlessly pursues predators who sexually abuse children, whether that abuse is physical in nature or if it's accomplished by exploiting their images. The arrest of this man sends a strong message that ICE will not tolerate this despicable crime. Our agents will continue to police cyber space to investigate and bring to justice those individuals who exploit the most vulnerable in our society, our children."

Martinez is in U.S. Marshal's custody at the Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Metropolitan Detention Center. Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Hernández will be handling the prosecution of the case.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico is committed to prosecuting these crimes. "Child pornography are images of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. We will not and cannot tolerate anyone who seeks to exploit our children," said United States Attorney Rosa E. Rodríguez-Vélez. Project Safe Childhood is an initiative of the Department of Justice aimed at preventing the abuse and exploitation of children by use of the Internet and other mediums. One of such crimes is the possession, distribution and production of child pornography which carry sentences up to 10, 20 and 30 years respectively and terms of supervised release up to life.

Carlos M. Martinez' arrest was part of a nationwide initiative known as Operation Predator. Operation Predator protects our children from sexual predators, including those who travel across continents to have sex with minors. Internet child pornographers and criminal alien sex offenders and child traffickers are also a priority for ICE. Since the initiative was launched in July of 2003, there have been more than 10,000 individuals arrested nationwide.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http:/www.cybertipline.com.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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