Las Vegas Sun

February 11, 2012

Currently: 61° | Complete forecast | Log in

Police arrest nine in child porn operation

Eight first-time offenders must register as sex offenders if convicted

Image

Police released photos of eight of the nine men arrested in connection with a child pornography operation in the Las Vegas Valley. Top row (from left): Terry Ziegler, Tom Krattenmaker, Paul Smith, Michael Ward. Bottom row (from left): Juan Vega, Hector Gonzalez, Daniel Combes, Anthony Flores.

By

Published Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 | 2:35 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 | 4:42 p.m.

Child porn operation arrests

Michael Ward Launch slideshow »

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has arrested nine people in the past four weeks on child pornography charges, including one man charged with sexual seduction and use of a minor in producing pornography.

Metro Police, Henderson Police and the FBI have teamed up on the task force to serve search warrants and arrest five people in Henderson and four in Las Vegas who are involved in child pornography.

The suspects charged in the child pornography operation include:

-- Michael G. Ward, charged with three counts of statutory sexual seduction, one count of using a minor in production and manufacture of pornography and 20 counts of possessing visual presentation of depicting sexual conduct of a person under 16. Ward has been a registered sex offender in Nevada since 2001, police said.

-- Thomas K. Krattenmaker, no age available, six counts of advertising or distributing child pornography and 20 counts of possession of child pornography.

-- Elbert Bernard, no age available, five counts of possessing child pornography.

-- Hector A. Gonzalez, no age available, 10 counts possession of child pornography.

-- Juan Vega, 37, 20 counts of possessing child pornography.

-- Anthony Flores, 32, 20 counts possession of child pornography

-- Daniel Combes, 46, 15 counts possession of child pornography.

-- Paul Smith, 51, 20 counts of possession of child pornography.

-- Terry K. Ziegler, 56, 15 counts possession of child pornography.

While Ward has been a registered sex offender, authorities said the other men are first-time offenders and will have to register as sex offenders if convicted.

After discovering the images and videos on suspects' computers, police said Tuesday they want to ensure there are no additional victims within the Las Vegas Valley.

Task force members are asking parents to talk to their children about accessing certain Web sites and to educate them on the dangers that are on the Internet, police said.

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Discussed
  • E-mailed
  • Facebook