Homeland Security investigators raid home for child porn

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations raided an East El Paso home Friday morning.

It happened on the 11000 block of Skipper Street.

It was part of a federal child pornography investigation.

One man was arrested on child porn charges, another on a weapons charge.

The man arrested for having and distributing child porn is 28-year-old Ricardo Antonio Ruiz.
Also arrested was 32-year-old Juventino Soliz Gonzales. He is charged with felon in possession of a weapon.

HSI investigators have not released their mug shots.

They tell us with more technology comes an increase of child porn.

“Last year HSI nationwide spent close to a million hours investigating these type of investigations,” said HSI agent Javy Pedroza.

Friday morning’s raid is a reminder of how rampant child pornography is.

Pedroza can’t discuss techniques he and fellow agents use to catch those who exploit children but he says they aren’t alone in their efforts.

“We get leads from multiple sources. We have the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We got the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. And the leads come in on a weekly , if not a daily basis,” said Pedroza.

Pedroza says new technology and mobile devices help spread the images.

“The Internet is at everyone’s fingertips now so I guess you can say it has become more prevalent,” said Pedroza.

“I mean we’ve had cases that arise at the ports of entry where someone’s entering the country with a phone or a tablet that contains child pornography,” said Pedroza.

The agents you see raiding homes are the same ones speaking to students about the program “I-guardian.”

“Kids don’t think twice about meeting someone online,” said Pedroza.

The program warns the younger generation of online dangers and predator techniques.

“Hey you’re a grownup now, I don’t know why youre parents say you’re a little kid, trust me,” said Pedroza as an example of what a predator would say.

Pedroza has a stern message for any would-be child predators.

“They should know that if they’re doing anything illegal on the Internet, whether it’s being in search of child pornography, whether it’s looking to entice a child and victimize them they should know we are watching,” said Pedroza.

Officials say they’ve been going after offenders to pay restitution to victims, even seizing money from offenders’ retirement funds or selling their homes to make the funds available.