A resident of Montrose, California, was indicted today in a superseding indictment by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and sex trafficking of a minor, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California announced today.

Paul Alan Shapiro, 69, was originally indicted on April 22, 2015, on charges relating to his travel to Thailand and illicit sexual conduct with minor boys.

According to the indictment, in February 2010, Shapiro traveled from Los Angeles to Thailand, where Shapiro paid minors as young as 14 years old small amounts of local currency in order to engage in various sex acts with them.  Shapiro also allegedly took photographs of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the boys.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case.  Trial Attorneys Austin M. Berry and Amy E. Larson of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case.

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations.  The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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 visitwww.justice.gov/psc.

Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section USAO – California, Central

Topic: Project Safe Childhood        Updated March 23, 2016

Central District of California DOJ / 16-345 / March 22, 2016