The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico announced federal charges against two men accused of sexually exploiting a five-year-old child. The defendants are Alejandro Morales Varela, 25, of Arecibo, and Gabriel Andrés Vélez Ramírez, 28, of Lajas. Both were arrested by special agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Morales Varela was detained June 26 on a criminal complaint, and Vélez Ramírez was arrested July 8.
Prosecutors allege that between May and June 2026, the two men acted together to persuade, induce, convince and coerce the child into sexually explicit acts in order to produce material using a cellphone. They face charges of production of child sexual exploitation material, receipt and distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Yariel Ramos, acting special agent in charge of HSI San Juan, said the office has made six child-exploitation arrests in the past two weeks involving suspects aged 19 to 63 across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Héctor Ramírez Carbó, acting head of the federal prosecutor's office, called crimes against minors among the office's top priorities. If convicted, the men face a mandatory minimum of five years up to life in prison, plus supervised release ranging from five years to life.