SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On July 1, 2026, a federal grand jury indicted Alejandro Morales-Varela and Gabriel Andrés Vélez-Ramírez on charges for production of child exploitation material, receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. Alejandro Morales-Varela, a 25-year-old man from Arecibo, was arrested via a criminal complaint on June 26, 2026. Gabriel Andrés Vélez-Ramírez, 28-year-old man from Lajas, was arrested on July 8, 2026. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents arrested both defendants.According to court documents, from May to June 2026, Morales-Varela and Vélez-Ramírez, aiding and abetting each other, knowingly persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced a 5-year-old male minor, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct using a cellular phone.
The defendants are further charged with receipt/distribution and possession of child exploitation material.“There are no cases more important for the Department of Justice and the Puerto Rico U.S. Attorney’s Office than crimes against children. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who exploits minors for sexual purposes,” said Héctor Ramírez-Carbó, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.
“Those who engage in child exploitation and create child sexual abuse material will be tracked down and held accountable for their heinous conduct.”Yariel Ramos, HSI San Juan’s Acting Special Agent in Charge said: “In the past two weeks, HSI San Juan has made six arrests for child exploitation offenses, with suspects ranging in age from 19 to 63 years old, across multiple communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These arrests underscore our unwavering commitment to protecting children and holding offenders accountable. With the support of U.S.
Attorney’s Office and the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force, our agents are able to leverage critical partnerships and resources. The Renewed Hope Act will further equip our agency with advanced tools and increased personnel to identify victims faster and bring perpetrators to justice. We will continue to pursue those who exploit children and ensure their crimes are met with the full force of the law.”Assistant U.S. Attorney Elba Gorbea of the Crimes Against Children, Human Trafficking and Immigration Unit, 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, the defendants face the following penalties: production of child exploitation material - a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years up to life; receipt and distribution of child pornography - a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 5 years up to 20 years; possession of child pornography - a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years, all charges of conviction to 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 Know2Protect.gov.
To report suspicious activities, call 787-729-6969 or send an email to IntelHSISanJuan@hsi.dhs.gov.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.###