FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
April 6, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:12-cr-00097-AWI-DLB

FRESNO, Calif.—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Alfredo Hernandez, Jr., 36, of Bakersfield, California, was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury for Receipt of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors.  Hernandez was arrested yesterday, and he is scheduled to make an appearance in federal court at 1:30 p.m. today before United States Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe.

The charge of Receipt of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both imprisonment and a fine, and a potential lifetime term of supervised release.  The charges in the complaint are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is the result of Operation Direct Connect, an extensive series of investigations by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, specifically the Bakersfield Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of the United States’ Department of Homeland Security, and the Kern’s County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri is prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information, visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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