Man In West Haven Charged With Child Exploitation Offenses: Feds

WEST HAVEN, CT — Jose Israel Tenesaca Mejia, a 21-year-old Ecuadorian citizen living in West Haven, has been charged with federal child exploitation offenses, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David X. Sullivan announced Wednesday.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, on April 29, 2025, the Stamford Police Department secured an arrest warrant charging Tenesaca Mejia with felony risk of injury and interfering with an officer.

Tenesaca Mejia subsequently fled Connecticut with a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.

On Oct. 28, the FBI in New Haven contacted the FBI in Minneapolis and relayed information about Tenesaca Mejia’s active arrest warrant, and that “his iPhone had been tracked to a specific location in Minneapolis,” according to a news release.

“Investigators surveilled the vicinity of the location, identified both Tenesaca Mejia and the minor victim, and arrested Tenesaca Mejia,” officials wrote in the news release. “It is further alleged that preliminary analysis of Tenesaca Mejia’s iPhone revealed videos and images of Tenesaca Mejia engaged in sexual conduct with the minor victim. Investigators also identified numerous images and videos of suspected child pornography that Tenesaca Mejia had downloaded using the Telegram app.”

Tenesaca Mejia was charged on Dec. 5 by federal criminal complaint with sexual exploitation of children, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, and with possession of child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, according to officials.

Tenesaca Mejia has been detained since his arrest and appeared in federal court in Hartford on Tuesday.

The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit here.

To report cases of child exploitation, visit here.