Man From El Salvador Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison For Child Pornography and Sexual Abuse Charges

           WASHINGTON – David Alberto Canales, 47, formerly of El Salvador, was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for possession of child pornography, second-degree sexual abuse, first-degree child sexual abuse and illegal re-entry of a removed alien, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.; Clark E. Settles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Washington, D.C.; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Canales pled guilty to these charges in August 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Christopher R. Cooper.  Upon completion of his prison term, he will be placed on 25 years of supervised release.  Canales also will be required to register for 15 years as a sex offender.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Aug. 7, 2013, Special Agents for the Homeland Security Investigations arrested the defendant at an apartment in Washington, D.C. for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  During a search of a cellphone in Canales’s possession, agents recovered approximately eight images of child pornography. In addition, during the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Canales had sexually assaulted an adult victim in Northwest Washington in July 2013 and two minor victims, ages 12 and 10 at the time of the abuse, in or about 2006 and 2008 respectively, in various locations in the District of Columbia and Maryland.      

            Canales was removed from the United States and deported to El Salvador in 1999 following his conviction in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for drug offenses.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen, Special Agent in Charge Settles and Chief Lanier praised the work of those who investigated the case. They also commended the efforts of Victim/Witness Specialists Elsa Resendiz and Yvonne Bryant and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cassidy Kesler Pinegar and Ari Redbord.