This morning, in federal court in Central Islip, David Ibarra was arraigned on an indictment charging him with sexual exploitation of a child, coercion, and enticement. Ibarra, an active-duty senior airman in the United States Air Force, was initially charged by complaint in February 2025 and ordered detained in Anchorage, Alaska, before his transfer to the Eastern District of New York. Today’s proceeding was held before United States District Court Judge Joanna Seybert who ordered the defendant detained pending trial.
John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Leslie Backschies, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.
“As alleged, the defendant, a 31-year-old man posing as a 13-year-old boy, manipulated a vulnerable child into producing and sending him sexually explicit images and videos of herself via text message in exchange for money,” stated United States Attorney Durham. “My Office will continue its relentless pursuit of sexual predators who target children and work to secure lengthy prison sentences in these cases to protect our community and children from such conduct.”
“As alleged in the indictment, this individual targeted and then repeatedly coerced a child into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos of herself—produced at his specific direction—in exchange for money,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Backschies. “The FBI is committed to finding and arresting the monsters who prey on vulnerable children, and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure these predators are off the streets and behind bars where they can no longer pose a danger to our communities.”
As set forth in court filings, law enforcement identified Ibarra from cell phone records obtained for an individual who was communicating, via text message, with a 9-year-old girl living in Suffolk County, New York, and soliciting sexually explicit images and videos from her in exchange for money. During these communications, Ibarra, who claimed to be a 13-year-old boy named “Dave” living in Texas, repeatedly pressured the victim to send him more images and gave her specific directions as to what sexually explicit poses he wanted her to record (“Can we be a little dirty before we go to sleep? Pls and I’ll send money…”). Ibarra made approximately 17 payments to the victim’s Apple Pay account to induce her to continue producing sexually explicit images for the defendant’s gratification.
This prosecution is 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the charges, Ibarra faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to 30 years in prison.
The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division. Assistant United States Attorney Paul G. Scotti is in charge of the prosecution.