Texas Soldier Charged with Child Pornography Offenses

EL PASO, TX - A federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging Seth Herrera, 35, a U.S. Army soldier, previously of El Paso, TX, with attempted sexual exploitation of a child and receipt of files depicting child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, Herrera allegedly used encrypted messaging applications and network applications to find, receive, and download child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over the course of multiple years, beginning in 2021. He also allegedly used artificial intelligence chatbots to generate CSAM using images of children he knew. He is also alleged to have surreptitiously taken images and videos of those same children undressing in his home in El Paso.

Herrera is already charged in Alaska relating to his alleged transportation, receipt, and possession of CSAM, including AI-generated CSAM, while stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret F. Leachman for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mallory J. Rasmussen for the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

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 CEOS, 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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.