Puerto Rico Police Officer Indicted on Child Exploitation Charges

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – An officer from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau was arrested on criminal charges related to child exploitation conduct.

On April 15, 2024, Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan arrested Luis Javier Pérez-Badillo, a 49-year-old man from Aguadilla, P.R.

A federal grand jury indicted Pérez-Badillo on April 10, 2024, with a three-count indictment including Production of Child Pornography, Transportation of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography.

From on or about October 11, 2023, through February 21, 2024, Luis Javier Pérez-Badillo used a cellular phone to knowingly employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a twelve-year-old female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct and to transport child pornography.  Pérez-Badillo knowingly possessed, and accessed with intent to view, images of child pornography of a twelve-year-old minor using a cellphone device with internet capabilities.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute persons who exploit minors for sexual purposes,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “The defendant, who was entrusted by the community to serve and protect, violated that trust by sexually exploiting a child. As this case demonstrates, those who prey on children will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

HSI Special Agent in Charge Rebecca González-Ramos stated: “This individual does not represent our police officers, who are a prestige force that day by day sacrifice their lives to protect our community. This individual represents a predator that abused his position of public trust to engage in a despicable act. The Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force mission is to protect our children but most importantly to send a clear message that nobody is above the law, our children are sacred, and we will exhaust all resources in protecting them.”

Assistant United States Attorney Emelina M. Agrait-Barreto 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 of Production of Child Pornography, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years up to 30 years in prison; for Transportation of Child Pornography the defendant faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years up to 20 years in prison, and for the count of Possession of Child Pornography, the defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years in prison, all charges will 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 iGuardians™: Combating Child Predators  and to denounce 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.

###