The United States Attorney’s Office, with support from law enforcement partners from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations offices in Southern Arizona, charged 22 offenders with crimes involving child sex abuse material in Southern Arizona since October 2023.
The crimes include sexual exploitation of minors by way of production, distribution, transportation, and possession of child pornography, which is defined by federal statute as any depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Each of the offences is a felony under federal law and results in registration as a sex offender after release from prison.
Updates on recent cases
United States v. David Garmarnik: David Berry Garmarnik was indicted on November 20, 2024, on 20 counts of Attempted Production of Child Pornography, 20 counts of Attempted Enticement and Coercion of a Minor, and five counts of Receipt of Child Pornography.
The complaint alleged that in July 2024, law enforcement identified evidence that Garmarnik was using Skype to conduct live streaming shows of child sexual abuse being committed in the Philippines. On December 18, 2024, the District Court held a hearing on the government’s detention appeal, and ordered the defendant detained pending trial.
United States v. Nathan Hinte: Nathan Dean Hinte was indicted on October 2, 2024, on one count of Production of Child Pornography and one count of Distribution of Child Pornography after the investigation showed he reached out in August 2024 to an HSI Special Agent posing undercover as a mother looking to exploit her child.
Hinte sent sexually explicit images of children to the undercover agent, and following his arrest, additional investigation revealed that Hinte had produced the explicit images himself. Hinte is detained pending trial.
In United States v. Baron Martin, 20-year-old Baron Martin, of Tucson, was arrested by agents from the FBI for production of child pornography and cyberstalking offenses carried out as part of his participation in online groups associated with domestic terror networks known as 764 and “CVLT.” Following a hearing on January 10, 2025, the Court detained Martin pending trial.
United States v. Eric Lavon Williams and Cori Williams – Eric Williams and his wife Cori Williams, of Pima, were identified by HSI-Douglas in April, 2022, after receiving Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about explicit images being uploaded online. Eric Williams was sentenced to 97 months in custody for Distribution of Child Pornography, to be followed by lifetime supervised release. Cori Williams was subsequently sentenced to 36 months in prison on April 17, 2024.
An indictment is a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
