El Paso Man Sentenced 20 Years for Cross-Border Child Sexual Exploitation

Enrique Ruvalcaba-Mendez, a 71-year-old man from El Paso, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for sexually abusing at least three minors in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was caught on January 10 at the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry when Customs and Border Protection officers found videos and photos of him engaged in sexual activity with minors on his phone. The investigation revealed that Ruvalcaba-Mendez would pay to have sex with minors and record the abuse. He pleaded guilty in July and was sentenced on September 24. The case was investigated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, and the HSI Assistant Attaché Office in Ciudad Juarez. Additionally, a separate case involved Elpidio Abelardo Perez-Perez, a Mexican citizen with multiple prior deportations, who was sentenced to over a year in prison for illegal reentry after being arrested on violent crime charges in Florida.