Mexican National Sentenced to 60 Months For Transporting Child Sexual Abuse Material from Canada into the United States

Mexican National Sentenced to 60 Months For Transporting 
Child Sexual Abuse Material from Canada into the United States

CONCORD – A Mexican national who illegally crossed into New Hampshire while transporting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan announces.

Jose Rodriguez-Garcia, 27, previously pleaded guilty to one count of transporting CSAM. Rodriguez-Garcia has been in custody since his arrest in the early morning hours on June 6, 2024.  According to the charging documents and statements made in court, Rodriguez-Garcia and another man were observed by U.S. Border Patrol after having apparently just crossed from Canada into New Hampshire over Hall Stream.  The men were detained and brought to the Beecher Falls Border Station for processing. At that point, a search of Rodriguez-Garcia’s person and effects yielded several electronic media, including a thumb drive on which depictions of apparent CSAM were found.

U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty imposed the sentence.  The Court also ordered $6,000 in restitution.  

“The defendant illegally entered the United States by crossing from Canada while travelling with a substantial cache of CSAM that documented the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable children,” said United States Attorney Creegan. “Mr. Rodriguez-Garcia’s CSAM collection was among the few possessions he carried with him into New Hampshire and serves as a reminder of the international market for CSAM.”

“Rodriguez-Garcia held no regard for our laws. He not only crossed into New Hampshire illegally, he carried with him deeply disturbing images of the sexual abuse of children. Today’s sentence is the result of the vigilance of our partners in the Border Patrol and the work of our special agents to ensure that those who bring child exploitation materials into our country are identified, apprehended, and held fully accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England.

The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations within the United States Department of Homeland Security and the United States Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.