Last week, in EDNY federal court in Central Islip, David Ibarra, an active-duty senior airman in the U.S. Air Force, was charged with sexual exploitation of a child, coercion, and enticement. The proceeding was held before United States District Court Judge Joanna Seybert who ordered the defendant detained pending trial.
According to the indictment, law enforcement identified Ibarra from cellphone records obtained for a person who was communicating, via text message, with a 9-year-old girl living in Suffolk County, Long Island, and soliciting sexually explicit images and videos from her in exchange for money.
Ibarra, who claimed to be a 13-year-old boy named “Dave” living in Texas, allegedly pressured the victim to send him more images and gave her specific directions as to what sexually explicit poses he wanted her to record, sending messages like, “Can we be a little dirty before we go to sleep? Pls and I’ll send money …”
Ibarra made approximately 17 payments to the victim’s Apple Pay account to induce her to continue producing sexually explicit images for his own gratification, according to the charges.
John J. Durham, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Leslie Backschies, acting assistant director in charge, FBI New York Field Office, announced the charges.
“As alleged, the defendant, a 31-year-old man posing as a 13-year-old boy, manipulated a vulnerable child into producing and sending him sexually explicit images and videos of herself via text message in exchange for money,” stated U.S. Attorney Durham. “My office will continue its relentless pursuit of sexual predators who target children and work to secure lengthy prison sentences in these cases to protect our community and children from such conduct.”
This prosecution is 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 United States attorneys’ offices, 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.
The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorney Paul G. Scotti is in charge of the prosecution.
