Former Sailor Sentenced to Prison for Child Exploitation Crime

 ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former U.S. Navy Seabee was sentenced today to 109 months in prison for transporting images of child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, Martin Nieves Huizar, 37, of Arlington, was previously assigned to the U.S. Secretary of State's overseas travel communications detail. In January, upon returning from official government travel from Germany to Washington Dulles International Airport, Huizar was caught by Customs and Border Patrol Officers transporting images of child sexual abuse on his phones and tablet computer. Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations then interviewed Huizar, who confessed to knowingly downloading and transporting images of child sexual abuse internationally.

Subsequent investigation revealed that Huizar had also engaged in online grooming of a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina via the social media platform, Instagram. While overseas on official government travel, Huizar made plans to meet up with the minor girl for sex shortly after his arrival back to the United States. Due to this investigation and prosecution, that meeting did not occur. Court records also revealed that Huizar previously had targeted other minor girls.

In addition to Huizar’s prison sentence, he will also be required to pay $40,100 in fines, pay $10,000 in restitution to the victims of the offense, serve a 10-year term of supervised release, and register as a sex offender upon release from the Bureau of Prisons.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Ambassador Matthew Klimow, Acting Inspector General for the Department of State; and Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service assisted in the investigation.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell L. Carlberg prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-152.