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Thom Mrozek (213) 894-6947 |
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Release No. 07-044
March 23, 2007
PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD LEADS TO CHARGES AGAINST
NINE MEN ACCUSED OF CHILD EXPLOITATION CRIMES
More Than Three Dozen Defendants Charged in Six-Month Period
The government’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, now organized under the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, continue to bring results, with nine men being charged over the past week in this district with child exploitation crimes. Most of the men were charged with possession of child pornography, a crime seen with increasing frequency due to technological advances such as the Internet.
Local federal prosecutors and law enforcement authorities have brought a significant numbers of prosecutions in this area. During the six-month period that ended February 28, this office brought 37 cases involving child exploitation, including cases involving “sex tourism,” soliciting minors on the Internet to have sex, and the sexual abuse of children to produce child pornography.
Efforts to fight child exploitation in this district are led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who work in partnership with a number of state and local law enforcement agencies, including the California Bureau of Investigation, the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. In addition to investigating crimes against children, representatives from these agencies train other local law enforcement agencies on investigating those crimes and participate in outreach efforts to educate parents and children on ways children can protect themselves from online predators.
Today’s announcement of the eight criminal cases comes on the same day federal officials roll out a public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate teenage girls about the potential dangers of posting and sharing personal information online.
Those charged in the past week are:
- Patrick Hyde, 26, of Glendale, Arizona, who was indicted yesterday and charged with using the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and two counts of distribution of child pornography. Hyde has been in custody since March 6, when he was arrested in West Los Angeles, where he had come thinking he was going to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. That “girl” turned out to be an undercover law enforcement officer.
- Richard David Sepulveda, 58, of Highland, who was indicted Wednesday on one count of possession of child pornography.
- Michael David Marsolais, 65, formerly of Upland, now a resident of Oakvale, Mississippi, who was indicted Wednesday on one count of possession of child pornography.
- Keith Leonard Mullen, 44, of Riverside, who was indicted Tuesday on one count of possession of child pornography.
- Michael John Stolte, 41, of Covina, who was arrested yesterday after being indicted on two counts of possession of child pornography for possessing more than 1,000 images of child pornography on two computers.
- James Randolph Miller, 53, of Upland, who was indicted yesterday on charges of distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography. Miller was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles.
- Roger Favento, 41, of the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, who was indicted Wednesday morning on charges of possession of child pornography.
- William Douglas Portwood, 40, of Phoenix, Arizona, was indicted this morning on charges of distributing images of child pornography to an undercover FBI agent in Los Angeles. During the investigation, Portwood used the Google Hello program to send child pornography images along with comments about the children depicted. Portwood also boasted to the undercover agent that he had molested a seven-year-old girl. Portwood was arrested in Arizona but ordered released under conditions.
The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The charge of distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a statutory maximum of 20 years. The charge of using the Internet to attempt to persuade a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a statutory maximum sentence of life without parole. The charge of abusive sexual contact carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
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Release No. 07-044
Return to the 2007 Press Release Index