Ecuadorian National Charged with Child Exploitation Offenses

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Stamford Police Chief Timothy Shaw today announced that JOSE ISRAEL TENESACA MEJIA, 21, a citizen of Ecuador residing in West Haven, has been charged with federal child exploitation offenses.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on April 29, 2025, the Stamford Police Department secured an arrest warrant charging Tenesaca Mejia with felony risk of injury and interfering with an officer.  Tenesaca Mejia subsequently fled Connecticut with a 14-year-old girl (the “minor victim”).  On October 28, 2025, the FBI in New Haven contacted the FBI in Minneapolis and relayed information about Tenesaca Mejia’s active arrest warrant, and that his iPhone had been tracked to a specific location in Minneapolis.  Investigators surveilled the vicinity of the location, identified both Tenesaca Mejia and the minor victim, and arrested Tenesaca Mejia.

It is further alleged that preliminary analysis of Tenesaca Mejia’s iPhone revealed videos and images of Tenesaca Mejia engaged in sexual conduct with the minor victim.  Investigators also identified numerous images and videos of suspected child pornography that Tenesaca Mejia had downloaded using the Telegram app.

On December 5, 2025, Tenesaca Mejia was charged by federal criminal complaint with sexual exploitation of children, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, and with possession of child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Tenesaca Mejia has been detained since his arrest.  He appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation is being conducted by FBI New Haven, FBI Minneapolis, the Stamford Police Department, and the Hennepin County (Minn.) Sheriff's Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Minnesota and the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk for its cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of this case.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.