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June 14, 2007

Puerto Rican pre-school teacher sentenced to serve a three-year prison term following ICE investigation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A 54-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, was sentenced here yesterday to three years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Carlos Mendez-Betancourt, a former teacher at the pre-school Development Center of the University of Puerto Rico, was arrested by ICE special agents for being in possession of child pornography in Sept. 2006. The ICE investigation revealed that his computer and electronic storage media devices contained child pornography. He subsequently pleaded in Jan. 2007.

"ICE will continue to identify and arrest those who possess, produce and distribute child pornography in order to stop children from being abused and exploited," said Manuel Oyola Torres, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Puerto Rico. "Consumers of child pornography provide the financial incentive for the abuse of the children being photographed."

Mendez-Betancourt's arrest was part of Operation Predator, a comprehensive ICE initiative aimed at those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Since the initiative was launched in July of 2003, there have been more than 10,000 individuals arrested nationwide.

Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the Web at http://www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock. 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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