Saturday
November 30,2013
Latin American Herald Tribune

MIDLAND, Texas – A Mexican citizen living in the United States was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for using a communication device to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case, with the assistance of Crane County Sheriff’s Office.

Juan Carlos Venegas, 21, a U.S. permanent resident who lived in Crane, Texas, was also sentenced to 20 years of supervised release. ICE has placed an immigration detainer on Venegas. After he completes his sentence, Venegas will be turned over to ICE custody and placed in removal proceedings.

On Sept. 5, a federal jury convicted Venegas of knowingly using his cell phone on several occasions in June 2012 to entice a minor to have sex with him. Venegas fled to Mexico shortly after being arrested by Crane County Sheriff’s deputies in July 2012.

On Feb. 16, 2013, about eight months after his initial arrest, Venegas was arrested in Del Rio, Texas, while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Arti...tegoryId=14091