Previously deported Mexican national sentenced for possession of images of child sexual abuse

Seattle – A 42-year-old Mexican citizen was sentenced October 1, 2025, in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison for receiving images of child sexual abuse, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Jaime Neri-Soto was arrested by Bothell Police detectives in March 2025 following an investigation prompted by reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Using those cyber tips investigators were able to identify Neri-Soto as the owner of electronic devices allegedly containing images of child sexual abuse. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “children are scarred for life” by child exploitation. Judge Lin noted that Neri-Soto would likely be deported following his prison term. “Any chance of achieving the American dream is now over,” she said.

According to records filed in the case, in October 2024, WhatsApp alerted NCMEC that a user of its platform had uploaded images of child sexual abuse. In January 2025, the CyberTip was referred to the Bothell Police Department who immediately began work to connect the phone number and IP address to a particular individual. Working with information on the device and internet service providers, law enforcement was able to determine the location of the phone at various times and ultimately identified Neri-Soto.

Following some surveillance, Neri-Soto was arrested and taken to Bothell Police. When he was fingerprinted law enforcement learned he was a previously registered sex offender whose registration was terminated in 2017, when he was turned over to federal authorities for deportation.

Federal authorities were involved in the forensic analysis of the electronic devices Neri-Soto possessed. The cyber review found numerous images of child sexual abuse on one of the devices. Neri-Soto was charged federally with receipt of images of child sexual abuse.

In its sentencing memo prosecutors note that it was not Neri-Soto’s first conviction related to child sexual abuse material. “The defendant’s activities served to feed the appetite and fuel the interests of individuals with a sexual attraction to minor children. His conduct necessarily supported an industry making its profits at the expense of children.  (And) this is not the defendant’s first bite at the child exploitation apple… As long as defendants peddle the misery of children from behind screens and keyboards, real children will continue to experience unmeasurable harm.”

Neri-Soto was sentenced to five years of supervised release to follow his prison term. However, Neri-Soto will likely be deported following prison.

The case was investigated by the Bothell Police Department and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

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