EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury in Arizona has indicted a U.S. citizen allegedly caught returning from Mexico with child sexual abuse material on his cellphone.
Michael Rosales, 32, faces charges of receipt, possession, transportation and attempted production of child pornography stemming from his Sept. 28 arrest at the U.S. port of entry in Lukeville, Arizona. The Oct. 22 indictment also charged him with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Rosales had presented himself at the port of entry for readmission to the United States when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer received an electronic alert after checking his documents. CBP officers conducted a search of Rosales’ cellphone, allegedly found CSAM, or child porn, on it and detained him at around 6:30 p.m.
Three hours later, Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived at the port and allegedly located 1,298 explicit photos and videos stored in the Apple iPhone 15. Multiple videos stored on the phone showed “young, prepubescent males” performing sexual acts by themselves or engaged in intercourse. Some images appeared to have been snapped from a video call, according to the complaint.
In an interview with HSI, Rosales allegedly said he had been accessing child sexual abuse material for about two years. The suspect said he had paid hundreds of dollars with a PayPal account to acquire the images “out of curiosity” and that he would watch live shows online originating in Indonesia involving adults engaged in sex acts with minors, according to the complaint.
In addition, agents allegedly found evidence of communication with a minor through a video stream originating in China. Last week’s indictment alleges the suspect “did knowingly attempt to persuade, induce, entice and coerce an individual under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity.”
Rosales told agents he never physically met the 16-year-old from China.
The suspect faces arraignment on November 14 at a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona.
Federal law allows CBP officers to search persons, vehicles, luggage and communication devices from anyone seeking admission into the United States, including American citizens. The agency says cellphone searches are rare, equal to .01 percent of all travelers, or 1 in 10,000.
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