US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Newark has arrested four more people who are illegally present in the United States and have a history of child exploitation, bringing the total number of recent arrests in this investigation to eight.
On August 3, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Newark, seized Daniel Garcia Cruz, a 35-year-old Mexican national, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Hudson County Superior Court sentenced Garcia to three years probation on March 24, 2023, following his conviction for criminal sexual contact.
On July 24, ICE HSI and ERO Newark apprehended Manuel Gregorio Loja Loja and Leonidas Rivera Gonzalez. Loja, a 36-year-old Ecuadorian national, was sentenced to three years probation by Essex County Superior Court on June 24, 2024, for false imprisonment and cruelty and abuse of children. Rivera, a 40-year-old Salvadorian national, was sentenced to life parole monitoring after being found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child by a non-caretaker on July 14, 2023, in Hudson County Superior Court.
ICE HSI and ERO Newark detained Jeferson Isaac Flores Pineda, a 19-year-old Honduran national, on July 31 in West New York, New Jersey. On June 6, 2022, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office arrested Flores for aggravated sexual assault and false imprisonment. On December 1, 2023, Hudson County’s Juvenile Court convicted him of false imprisonment.
According to ICE agents, Garcia, Loja, and Rivera entered the United States at unknown times and locations without being inspected or paroled by an immigration officer. Flores was first apprehended by US Border Patrol on April 14, 2019, in Hidalgo, Texas; he was found to be present illegally, but his immigration case was later canceled by an immigration judge in Newark in June 2022.
Four other people were arrested before July 21 as part of the same initiative targeting those with histories of child exploitation:
- Gerson Jose Saenz Umana is a Salvadorian national and registered sex offender whose criminal history includes child exploitation.
- Javier Garcia Nicolasa is a Mexican national who was convicted on December 1, 2023 of endangering sexual conduct with a child by caretaker and sentenced to three years in prison.
- Juan Villatoro Valle is a Salvadorian national who was convicted on August 2, 2019 for sexual assault involving a victim under age thirteen; he received five years in prison.
- Reyes Peralta-Salazar is a Mexican national who was arrested September 14, 2023 for criminal sexual conduct and endangering – sexual conduct with child; he received a sentence of six months in jail.
All individuals must register as sex offenders in New Jersey and remain in ICE detention pending removal proceedings.
ICE agencies collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Center Child Exploitation Investigations Unit to proactively target these criminals living in the United States.
Members of the public are encouraged to report crimes or suspicious activities by calling the hotline at (866) DHS-2-ICE or filling out an online tip form.
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