22-Year-Old Carolina Man Arrested for Child Exploitation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Jadhiel Andrés Cedeño-Gómez, a 22-year-old man from Carolina, Puerto Rico, was arrested on criminal charges related to child exploitation, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. On February 12, 2026, Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested Cedeño-Gómez.

According to court documents, from December 2025 to February 2026, Jadhiel Andrés Cedeño-Gómez used a cellphone, online instant messaging services, and social media to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a 7-year-old male minor to engage in sexual activity.  Cedeño-Gómez was also found to possess and receive child pornography material on his cellular device. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elba Gorbea of the Crimes Against Children, Human Trafficking and Immigration Unit, is prosecuting the case. The Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force led by HSI is in charge of the investigation.

If convicted for the charges the defendant faces the following penalties: (1) coercion and enticement of a minor - a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years up to life in prison; (2) receipt of child exploitation material - a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; and (3) possession of child exploitation material - a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. All charges of conviction are to be followed by a term of supervised release after imprisonment of no less than 5 years up to life. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit Know2Protect.gov. To report suspicious activities, call 787-729-6969.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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