A search of a man’s cellphone as he was crossing into the U.S. at the DeConcini Port of Entry (POE) in January resulted in his arrest earlier this month on federal charges involving the distribution of child sex abuse material.
Daniel Godinez Oseguera was taken into custody June 12 in Arizona by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) following a monthslong bi-national investigation. Court records show Oseguera, 49, is a Mexican citizen as well as a U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident who has been living in California.
According to the criminal complaint, Oseguera gave consent at the POE in Nogales back on Jan. 2 for a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer to search his phone. The CBP officer contacted the HSI-Nogales office after observing images on the phone related to child sex abuse.
HSI special agents interviewed Oseguera, who denied having sexual contact with minors. He was not arrested at the time, as investigators needed time for a more extensive review of Oseguera’s phone.
A forensic examination over the next few months revealed WhatsApp messages of a sexual nature were sent from the phone in June 2022 to a 14-year-old girl in Mexico. In one message, Oseguera asked for pictures of the girl’s body.
In others he talked about various sexual activity he wanted to engage in with her. Another communication stressed the interactions between the two needed to be “secret.”
Oseguera, a truck driver, communicated again with the girl via WhatsApp on July 1 as he was traveling from California through Arizona. He then parked his truck and walked into Nogales, Sonora, Mexico for the express purpose of engaging in sex with a minor. It is a practice referred to as child sex tourism.
The next day, Oseguera made three videos in which the girl is featured. GPS data showed the videos were recorded in Mexico, according to court documents.
One video purportedly shows Oseguera engaging in sex with the minor, which investigators say was his only purpose for going into Mexico. The video was then
sent via WhatsApp to Oseguera’s brother, along with a message stating the girl was only 14.
HSI special agents were able to identify and locate the victim as well as her mother with the help of the Mexican government.
“Homeland Security Investigations takes a victim centric approach, therefore a forensic interviewer was provided and victim assistance was offered as well,” HSI-Arizona spokesperson Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe told Arizona Daily Independent.
Investigators were also able to match the bedding and flooring seen in one of the videos to another video on Oseguera’s phone of a different minor engaging in sexual activity.
Oseguera was eventually taken into custody June 12 while once again entering the U.S. at the Nogales POE. He admitted recording two videos with the 14-year-old, but denied making the third video which had been transmitted to his brother.
The day after Oseguera’s arrest, Magistrate Judge Michael Ambri granted a request by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to keep Oseguera in the temporary custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until a detention hearing could be conducted.
That hearing, held June 15 at the federal courthouse in Tucson, ended with Magistrate Judge Angela Martinez ordering Oseguera’s continued detention pending trial as a flight risk.
The criminal complaint alleges Oseguera “employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced” the Mexican girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct while in Mexico “for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct” with the intention of transporting the visual depiction to the U.S. in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(c).
The federal charges do not cover the sexual abuse of the girl, as the activity occurred in Mexico.
The next court date in the case has not yet been announced, according to the court file. Oseguera is represented by Elena Kay of the Federal Public Defenders Office in Tucson.