A federal grand jury has indicted Seth Herrera, a 35-year-old former U.S. Army soldier from El Paso, Texas, on charges related to child pornography offenses. The indictment was returned on May 14 and includes charges of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and receiving files depicting child sexual abuse.
The investigation is being conducted by special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
Court documents allege that Herrera used encrypted messaging applications and network applications to locate, receive, and download child sexual abuse material starting in 2021. He is also accused of using artificial intelligence chatbots to create such material with images of children he knew. Additionally, he allegedly took images and videos of these children undressing without their knowledge in his home in El Paso.
Herrera faces separate charges in Alaska for the alleged transportation, receipt, and possession of child sexual abuse material while stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
The prosecution team includes Trial Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg from the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mallory J. Rasmussen for the Western District of Texas.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project aims to marshal resources at various governmental levels to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children online while also working to identify and rescue victims.
