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 April 15. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan special agents arrested Luis Javier Perez-Badillo, a 49-year-old man from Aguadilla, whom a federal grand jury indicted April 10. Perez-Badillo is accused of production, possession and transportation of child pornography.

From on or about Oct. 11, 2023, through February 21, 2024, Perez-Badillo used a cellphone to knowingly employ, use, persuade, induce, entice and coerce a 12-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct and to transport child sexual abuse material. He knowingly possessed and accessed these images.

“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,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Gonzalez-Ramos. “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.”

If convicted, Perez-Badillo faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison for the charges of production of child pornography; a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and up to 20 years in prison for transportation of child pornography; and a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography. Any sentence he receives will be followed by a term of supervised release of no less than five years and up to life. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

“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 U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico W. Stephen Muldrow. “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.”

Assistant U.S. 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.

For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit iGuardians™: Combating Child Predators and to report suspicious activity, call 787-729-6969.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the 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 locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

More information about Project Safe Childhood

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)