Aguadilla Man Indicted and Arrested for Child Exploitation

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Aaron Scott Byrns, 46, of Aguadilla, PR, for child exploitation.

According to court documents, from December 15, 2023, through on or about April 15, 2024, Aaron Scott Byrns, using a cellular phone, produced, and attempted to produce images of female minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, to include the lascivious exhibition of the genital area. The defendant captured and attempted to capture these images of the private areas of the female minors without their consent at a federal school campus.  

Aaron Scott Byrns is facing one count of production of child pornography; one count for possession of child pornography; and one count of video voyeurism.

The defendant had his initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Giselle López-Soler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto. The detention/bail hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. If convicted for the charges of production of child pornography the defendant faces up to 30 years in prison; for possession of child pornography, he faces up to 10 years; both followed by a term of supervised release of no less than 5 years up to life; and for video voyeurism he faces up to one year in prison; followed by a term of up to one year of supervised release. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico; Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Juan Field Office, and Rebecca González Ramos, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Juan made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case with the collaboration of the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) Emelina Agrait Barreto of the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit is prosecuting the case.

Tips and information assist the FBI and its federal, state, and local law enforcement partners. Citizens with information about this or any other federal crime are asked to contact the FBI San Juan Field Office at 787-987-6500, or to submit tips through the FBI’s internet complaint portal at Tips.FBI.gov.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from online sexual abuse, visit https://www.ice.gov/topics/iGuardians; and 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.

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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