Registered sex offender who was deported from United States arrested in Snohomish County for receiving images of child sexual abuse

Seattle – A 42-year-old Mexican citizen was indicted this week for receiving images of child sexual abuse, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Jaime Neri-Soto was arrested by Bothell Police detectives 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.

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 allegedly found numerous images of child sexual abuse on one of the devices. Neri-Soto was charged federally by criminal complaint with receipt of images of child sexual abuse.

The grand jury returned an indictment for receipt of child pornography late yesterday.

The charges are punishable by up to twenty in prison.

Neri-Soto is scheduled for arraignment on March 13, 2025.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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.