75-Year-Old Toa Baja Man Arrested for Child Exploitation Charges

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Carlos Manuel Collazo-Pérez, a 75-year-old man from Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, was arrested on criminal charges related to child exploitation, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Today, Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested Collazo-Pérez.

According to court documents, on or about September 15, 2024, Carlos Manuel Collazo-Pérez attempted to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a six-year-old female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child exploitation material.

Moreover, from March 2021 through August 2025, the defendant knowingly transported images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via the internet using a computer and knowingly possessed and accessed with intent to view digital videos and images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct saved on the defendant’s laptop, cellular phone, and other electronic devices.

Collazo-Pérez is facing one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children; one count for transportation of child exploitation material; and one count of possession of child exploitation material.

“The Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate and prosecute those criminals who seek to exploit and harm children,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “I thank the dedicated HSI agents and prosecutors who investigated and charged this case for their tireless efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our community. This type of exploitation of children has no place in civilized society.”

“In the last thirty days, HSI has arrested four individuals on child exploitation charges. This is an alarming number; this individual has an extensive collection of child sexual abuse material that is appalling. Child predators have no age limit, no profile, this 75-year-old man hid behind the trust of his community while gathering an extensive collection of child sexual abuse material. Crimes like these inflict lasting harm, not only on the victims but also on the hearts of our neighborhoods. His age gave the communities a false sense of security. We will never allow age, status, or circumstances to shield predators from accountability. Our mission is clear, to protect children and bring every offender to justice,” said Rebecca González-Ramos, Special Agent in Charge, HSI San Juan (Puerto Rico & U.S. Virgin Islands).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daynelle Álvarez-Lora 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) attempted sexual exploitation of a minor – a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years; (2) transportation 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 mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years and 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 or send an email to IntelHSISanJuan@hsi.dhs.gov.

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.

An indictment 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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