ALBUQUERQUE - Andres Salinas, 19, of Albuquerque, N.M., was arrested yesterday by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on federal child pornography charges. Salinas made his initial appearance in federal court earlier today, and remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Salinas is charged in a criminal complaint with possessing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to the criminal complaint, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO) initiated the investigation leading to Salina’s arrest in July 2014 after identifying an IP address that allegedly was being used to download child pornography. Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Salinas’ residence.
Yesterday, HSI and other law enforcement agency members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a federal search warrant at Salinas’ residence and seized computer media from Salinas’ bedroom. A preliminary examination of the computer media revealed that it contained images consistent with child pornography.
If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Salinas faces a federal prison term of not less than five years and not more than 20 years. Salinas also would be required to register as a sex offender. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, the NMAGO and other members of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
