The Santa Fe Police Department made multiple arrests yesterday in the culmination of a three-day operation focused on apprehending online child sexual predators. The operation resulted in four arrests and another three additional investigations that are expected to result in criminal charges against suspects.
The SVU conducted this collaborative operation with the assistance of several SFPD detectives and police officers. The online chat operation involved detectives utilizing undercover accounts on multiple websites and web-based communication apps. Detectives utilized these undercover accounts to communicate directly with offenders, identify them, and later apprehend individuals who attempted to perpetrate sexual crimes against individuals whom they believed to be children.
The following individuals were taken into custody during this operation:
Eduardo Gerardo Ramirez, 59 years old, of Santa Fe, was arrested for Child Solicitation by Electronic Device (Meets with Child), and Resisting, Evading, or Obstructing an Officer. Santa Fe Police Department case #2026001878.
Harold Lee Adams, 55 years old, of Lubbock, Texas, was arrested for Child Solicitation by Electronic Communication Device, and Tampering with Evidence. Santa Fe Police Department case #2026001896.
Tomas Tolcha Cacjo, 29 years old, of Santa Fe, was arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Children by Prostitution, Child Solicitation by Electronic Communication Device (Meets with child), and Resisting, Evading, or Obstructing an Officer. Santa Fe Police Department case #2026001907.
Nagaraju Balkam, 26 years old, of Santa Fe, was arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Children by Prostitution and Child Solicitation by Electronic Communication Device (Meets with Child). Santa Fe Police Department case #2026001937.
Additional investigations are still underway for additional offenders who violated state statute during their communications with detectives’ decoy accounts in the chats.
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The arrests came on the same day that Detective Ian Freeman of SFPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit testified in the state's case against social media company Meta. Freeman testified regarding cases he has investigated in New Mexico involving Meta’s platforms. It is unclear if the alleged perpetrators arrested yesterday utilized Meta's platforms- Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The state's case accuses social media companies of not doing enough to protect children online. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta in 2023 alleging its platforms enable predators to target children for sexual exploitation.
Among other things, Freeman testified that Meta failed to stop users who had been reported for inappropriately interacting with children from creating new accounts. This occurred even when the user’s new account was associated with the same phone number of the reported account. Freeman also said that one perpetrator sent child pornography using Snapchat, Reddit and Instagram. In that case, Snapchat and Reddit sent tips to the Internet Crimes Against Children unit but Instagram did not.
