News Releases

Virginia man living on federal lands sentenced to 18 years for child pornography

NORFOLK, Va. - A Virginia was sentenced in Norfolk federal court to 18 years in prison for transportation and possession of child pornography. Daniel Allen Oswald, 60, of Virginia Beach, Va., pled guilty to the charges on July 20, 2010. This investigation was led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

"The victimization of children for sexual purposes is one of the most heinous criminal acts imaginable," said John P. Torres, special agent in charge of the ICE HSI office in Washington, D.C. "Today's sentencing illustrates the serious nature of crimes that exploit children. For this reason, ICE will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners and through ICE initiatives such as Operation Predator to aggressively pursue child predators and bring them to justice."

According to court documents, Oswald was identified by ICE after the Surrey County North Carolina Sheriff's Department requested ICE's assistance in obtaining a search warrant, who was then living on federal lands on Back Bay Wildlife Refuge in Virginia Beach. ICE identified two minor girls who Oswald had been molesting and producing child pornography with over the course of several years.

This investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.