On October 31, 2024, law enforcement agencies in South Carolina arrested a man in Columbus, Mississippi.
According to a press statement from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, investigators in Lowndes County received a tip from a member of the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force and a detective from the Charleston County South Carolina Sheriff’s Office.
The tip notified Lowndes County investigators that they were looking into a case in which a guy was wanted on four counts of child exploitation. They had tracked down the guy, Josef Salomon Martinez, also known as Miguel Sierra, and brought him to Columbus.
Lowndes County deputies and members of the US Marshalls Fugitive Tax Force took Martinez into police custody at 140 Juanita Street in Columbus, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office.
During the inquiry, investigators requested search warrants for two cell phones that were discovered. The cops discovered that both cellular phones included films and photographs of adults sexually assaulting youngsters. Martinez confirmed during an interview that he owned both cell phones.
After gathering evidence, Lowndes County charged Martinez with two counts of child exploitation. The court set his bond at $125,000 for each charge of child exploitation.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said, “Martinez was feeding the child exploitation pipeline by victimizing children over and over again each time he uploaded an image or video. I am grateful for the hard work of our detectives and organizations like ICAC who vow to protect our children from sexual exploitation and abuse. I’m also grateful for our law enforcement partnerships. By partnering with the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force, we were able to assist the Charleston County South Carolina Sheriff’s Office and take this dangerous sexual predator off the street.”