New York State Police have accused a Middletown man of child sexual exploitation.
The state police said their Troop F Computer Crimes Unit began an investigation on April 18 after receiving a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
That investigation led to the execution of a search warrant at Alexis Rios Mendez’s residence in Middletown on May 1.
The Troop F Child Abuse Unit, troopers from the Middletown state police barracks and the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force assisted the computer crimes unit with the investigation.
Rios Mendez was charged with possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child less than 16 years of age and promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child less than 17 years of age, both felonies.
He was arraigned in the central arraignment part of the Middletown City Court and sent to the Orange County jail pending a future court date.
State police did not say what amount of bail, if any, the court set for him.
The name of Rios Mendez’s attorney was not immediately available.
State police are asking anyone with further relevant information about Rios Mendez to call them at 845-344-5300 and reference case number NY2600504975.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Middletown man arrested on child sexual exploitation charges
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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