Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 1 of 9

AO 9l(lttv.08/09) CriminalComplaint

U N ITED STATES D ISTRICT C OURT

forthe
Southern DistrictofFlorida

United StatesofAmerica

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V.

DAVID ROTHENBERG

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CRIM INA L COM PLA INT

1,the complainantin thiscase,state thatthe follow ing istrue to thebestofm y knowledge and belief.

Onoraboutthedatets)of slgpjlary2)16r6:brv@.
ry20..,2016 in thecounty of
Spuytlqrrl Districtof
Flprj4p
,thedefendantts)violated:

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knowing receive and distribute,anyvisualdepiction using any meansand
facility ofinterstate commerce,and has been shipped and transpoded in and
affecting interstate commerce by any means and facility ofinterstate
com merce,and which contains materials which have been mailed and so
shipped and transppded,by any means including by computer,ifthe
producing ofsuch visualdepiction involvesthe use ofa minorengaging in
sexually explicitconductand such visualdepiction isofsuch conduct.

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18 USC 2252(3)(2)

Thiscrim inalcomplaintisbased on thesefacts:

W Continuedo11theattachedsheet.
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Complainant'
signature

ElliotHeath Graves,SpecialAqentFBI
Printed nameand title

Sworn to before me and signed in m y presence.

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Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 2 of 9

AFFIDA VIT
1,ElliotHeath Graves,being duly sworn,hereby deposeand stateasfollows:
1am a SpecialAgentwith the FederalBureau oflnvestigation,and have been so
since 2004. Iam currently assigned to thecrim esagainstchildren squad ofthe M iam iDivision

ofthe FBI.W hileemployed by the FBI,lhaveinvestigated federalcriminalviolationsrelated to

high technology or cybercrime, child exploitation, and child pornography. 1 have gained
experience through training on child sex offenses. computer forensics, and undercover

techniques,and through everyday work relating to conducting these types of investigations.l

havereceived specific training in the areaofchild pornography and child exploitation,and have

had the opportunity to observe and review num erousexamplesofchild pornography (asdefined

infederalstatutes).
2.

The inform ation contained in this aftldavit is based on personalknowledge,as

well as inform ation relayed to me from other 1aw enforcement agents involved in this
investigation. The inform ation setforth in this aftidavitis provided solely fbrthe purpose of

establishingprobablecauseforthearrestofDavid ScottROTHENBERG (ROTHENBERG)for

violating Title l8,United StatesCode,Section 2252. As such,itdoesnotinclude everything l
know aboutthisinvestigation.
On oraboutJanuary 13,2016,an undercover officerfrom the VermontAttorney

General'sOfficewasusinga serviceknown aslnternetRelay Chat(lRC). Thisservice allows

persons to chat with each other over the internet using several dit-ferent netw orks. The

undercoverofficer used hisundercover (UC) persona to portray himself as Liz,a divorced

m other w ith tw o children;a s-year-old boy and a l3-year-old girl. Continuing on January 13,

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 3 of 9

2016,the undercoverofficerwason an IRC channelcalled Cidaddaughtersex''whenhereceived a

m essage fkom usel' ''Baduncle''wanting to chat.Theuser ''Badunclei'wanted to know why the

undercoverofficerwasin thatparticularchatroom ,which began a conversation aboutLiz's 13-

year-old daughter,Alm a.The ''Baduncle''who wanted to know if Liz would be accepting of

Anna being 'sexually explored and cultivated by a m ore strong m an in her life'' led the
conversation. This conversation eventually transitioned to em ail.AsBaduncle''used the em ail
daedelus6gr/-gmail.com . ln the conversation,''Baduncle''alleged thathe had sexually exploited

aminorfemale(hereinafterVictim 1).ln thisand subsequentconversations,thisuserexplained

thatthissexualexploitation wasongoing,and explained how hehad accessto thischild.

Purstlantto asubpoena,Googleprovided thattheaccountdaedelus6go gmail.com

was setup in Aprilof 2013,thatthe name listed on the accountwas 1$D Roth'',and thatthe

recovery email was Dsr lawo vahoo.com . Law enfbrcement ofNcers obtained IP address
65.249.68.242 foriBaduncle.''A subpoenareturned from Verizon showed thatthe subscriberof
thisIP Addresswasan identified law 1517,
14in Broward County,FL. A query ofthe 1aw firm 's
website Iisted David Rothenberg asalawyeratthefirm .
5.

The undercover ofticercontinued the conversations with the same individualon

num erous dates in January and February of 2016, both through 1RC and through services

provided by Google. They comm unicated via em ailand Hangotlts,a chatservice provided by
Google.In hislRC chats,tiBaduncle''lateralso used theusernam etdDRoth''.

6.

OnFebruary 3,theundercoverwascomlnunicating with daedelus6g/lgmail.com

on Gm ail. Theusersaid thathe had been tothebeach thatweekend and provided apicture, The
undercover ofticer reviewed the m etadata inform ation, known as EXIF data, which was

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 4 of 9

enzbedded in thephoto.The EXIF data showed thata Samsung M odelG925A took thephoto in
theSouth Floridaarea.
On or about February 11, the user DRoth' and the undercover again had a

conversation. During thisconversation,DRoth'mentioned thathe wasa lawyer.Afterasking if

the undercover officerwas atwork,DRoth'sentthe m essage dcause imay have something to
share butitwouldn'tbe safe for work.''After a shortbreak,the conversation began again and
DRoth'provided a link to avideo. The undercoveroftice accessed the video. The video was
approximately 30 seconds and showed a pre-pubescent fem ale w ho appeared to be
approximately 10 yearsold.Thegirlwasonly visible fiom thewaistup,and herupperbody was
nude. She appeared to be engaged in sexualactivity asshew ason herback and moaning.Later
in theconversation,the following interchangeoccurred'
.

Dlkoth'lamazingthatone so young could experiencesuch delight,hm ?

UC> ihad no idea
DRoth-l it'soneofthereasonsiasked aboutanna'sexperience ..including with
m asturbation
U C> ok
Dlloth'> you'refascinated watchingherhm? :D
UC> iam im ustadm it
UC> how o1d do uthirlk sheid?
UC> is?
DRoth'l i'd guess loish
UC> yeah thatswhatIwasthinking 2
DRoth'> m akesyou feelkindasquirmy? watching apreteen clim ax?
8.

On oraboutFebruary 16,2106,the undercover ofticer had anotherconversation

with userDRoth'on IRC using theUndernetnetwork. In this conversation,they refelmed to the

previousvideo link he had provided. In thisconversation,Dlloth'asked the undercoverofficer
kttellme what you thought about it? whatwas going through your m ind?'' The undercover

otlicerrespondedtdthatachild thatyoung couldenjoy that''and dlshewasaprettygirl''.Dlkoth'

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 5 of 9

responded k'yes...lthink she was pretty also''and (tand so sexy lostin lust''. A fkw m essages
later,thefbllowing conversation occured:

UC> aving some privacy letsm ecahtwith ;-)

UC> *chat
Dltoth'> and maybesee anothervideo?

UC> sure :-)

Dlkoth'> whatare you wearingatwork?
UC> scrubs

DRothA> :)

DRotlA'> letm eseeifican find alink

UC> ok
DRoth'> try this;
9.

DRoth'then senta link to the undercoverofNcer,who viewed the video. The

video was approximately 2 minutes and 16 seconds in length.The video depicted a nude
prepubescentfemale who wasapproxim ately 3 yearsold.The focalpointofthe movie washer

exposed genitalarea.An adultfemale wasseen perform ing oralsex on the child. AfterDRoth'
sentthe video link,the following conversation occurred.

DRoth'> see ifthatloads

UC> ok
UC> itdid
U C> w ow

UC> :-)
UC> she w as young
D Roth'> and w ith herm om
UC> wasthathermom ?
U C> ok
DRoth'> al1tbrthepleasureofthe man watchingher

Continuing on February 16,2015,in thatsame conversation,DRoth'and the UC

were discussing where Dlkoth'would find these movies. DRoth'stated Styou need to know the
links...itend to hearaboutthem hereand tlaereonline.'' DRoth'then mentioned itthere'sone...1
was trying to t'
ind ittbryou''. l4e then described the video :a little girl..maybe 6 ..and her

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 6 of 9

fthertellsherto 1ie back ..she pullsherpantsdown ..opensherlegs..and heusesa vibratoron

her...she saysto hina''isay stop,and you say no''....and sheproceedsto say ''stop''and he says
''no''.. twerand overwhilehe masturbatesher..untilsheclim axes.
''

11.

Later in this conversation,DRoth-provided a picture ofa girlwho he said was

Victim l. Healso provided a name forherand hergrade level.The UC asked Dltoth'how she
wasable to keep thesecret. DRoth-responded ishe'sbeen keeping itsecretforyeazs.''
l2.

O n February 17tl',the undercoverwas again in contactwith Dlloth-using IRC.

During this conversation,DRoth-provided anotherlink to the undercover officer. The officer

wasable to accessand record thisvideo. The video depicted whatappears to bea prepubescpnt
female who wasapproximately 10 yearsold. She wason herback on whatappearsto be abed.
She was nude from the waist down and her shirtwas pulled up to her chest.The camera was
placed between her legs and the video focused on her vaginalarea.The video began with her

touching hervaginalarea with herfingersand inserting one ofhertqngers into hervagina.The

camera then moved to an angle tiom the side ofthe bed and recorded herfce.Then the camera
moved back between her legs.An adulthand guided her hand to her vaginalarea.The m ovie
progressed with an adult male moving his erect penis over her vaginal area.The video was
angled down atthe girl,and herlegswerepulled up and were in the air.The adultmale'storso
and penis were visible.The video then progressed to an extrem e close-up of his erect penis
moving over her nude vaginaland rectalarea. Shortly thereafter,the following conversation
occurred'
.
Dltoth'> anything in particularin thatone you liked m ost?
UC> likethe otheronesiguess
UC> the nature ofit
UC> the taboo

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 7 of 9

DRothA> :)
Dltoth'> yes..butthisoneinvolved aman
Also on oraboutFebrual'y 17,2016,the undercoverattem pted to schedule a chat

with Dltoth'tbrlate on February 18,2016, Dltoth'responded thatitwashisbirthday thatday

and he had planswith family and friendsforthatevening. Law enforcem entofficersconfirm ed

thatROTHENBERG 'sbirthday isindeed February 18th.

14.

On February 18,2016,ROTHENBERG told the UC thathe planned on seeing

V ictim 1 on Sunday,February 21,2016.

15.

On February 20,2016,the undercover ofscer saw that he had a message from

daedelus6grrt,jlm ail.com from the nightbefore,saying thatVictim 1had com e overto spend the
night. The undercoverofficerimm ediately contacted ROTHENBERG via email,explained that
he had m issed the earlier comm unication, and attem pted to stall ROTLIENBERG, while
contacting law entbrcelnentagents in South Florida.Aflera shortconversation through email,

daedelus6gtA gm ail.com explained to the tlndercoverthatVictim 1 had com e to spend thenight

athishouse because she was arguing with herparents. He then connected with the undercover
officeron the chatservice G oogle Hangouts and the follow ing conversation ensued:

Dlkothl Butshetoldmeeverything,andwecuddled,andshewasreallytired(so
was1)sotoldherld bewakingherup,and shenoddedsweetly ?
UC> so sheknowswhatsgoingto happen?
Dlkoth> Sheknows1'm going to expectsom ething, and she'lldo asIask
16.

Laterinthe conversation,hecontinued:
DRoth> W e'
reherenow and she isnow so wet,lhad to tellyou
UC> oh really?'
??doessheknow urchattingwith m e?whatare you doing????

Dlkoth> W ewerekissingand1fingeredher-shejustcame-shewenttopeeand
iscom ing back so lcan f'
illher

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 8 of 9

Them orning ofFebruary 20,2016,1aw enfbrcementoffscers fiom M argatePolice

Department, the Florida Departm ent of Law Enforcem ent, and the Federal Bureau of
lnvestigation responded to ROTHEN BERG'Sresidence and conducted a ruse. ROTI-IEN BERG
responded to thedoorand allowed officersto enterto conductawelfrecheck on the occupants.

Intheresidence,theyencounteredROTHENBERG,hiswitk,and ayoungminorfkmale(Victim

18.

Victim 1 reported that,earlier that morning,ROTHENBERG had entered her

room and penetrated her vagina with hisfingers. She further stated thatROTHENBERG had
committed similaractson prioroccasions,beginning when shc was 11. ROTHENBERG'Swife
was shown the pictures thatthe userDltoth'had provided to the undercover oftscer as being
Victim 1. ROTHEN BERG'Swife identitiedthese photosasadifferentm inorfem alewith whom
ROTHENBERG regularly comm unicated and who also sometim es spends the night at their
residence. The name ofthis second fem ale matched the nam eDltoth'had provided asthe nam e
ofv ictim 1.

19.

W hile conducting the welfare check, law enforcem ent officers spoke with

ROTHENBERG in his living room . During this noncustodial interview, ROTHENBERG

acknowledged to 1aw enforcelnent officers that he used the Undernet, an lRC network.

ROTHENBERG confsrm ed thathe wasa lawyerand thathe worked fbrthe 1aw finn linked to
the IP address 65.249.68.242. ROTHENBERG provided thatone of the emails he used was

dsr lawlt
kvahoo.com. ROTHENBERG'S cellular telephone was also detennined to be
Samsulag M odel925A,the same m odelused to take one ofthe photographs ROTHENBERG
sentthe UC. ROTH ENBERG further explained thatVictim 1 spent the night athishouse on
February 19,2016 becauseshe wasarguing with herparents.

Case 0:16-mj-06068-AOV Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/22/2016 Page 9 of 9

Based on the foregoing,1 respectfully subm it that there is probable cause to

believe that the defendant, David Scott ROTHENBERG , did knowingly distribute child

pornography,in violation ofTitle 18.United StatesCode,Section 2252.

FURTHER YO U R AFFIAN T SA Y ETH N A U G HT

'

evx

..

. . ..- -. .

.--..u-+-

- = ..c...w . r .. .

E.HEATH GRAVES,SPECIAL AGENT

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Sw r and subscribedbeforem ethis
day ofFebruary,2016 in FortLauderdale,Florida

HONORABLE ALICIA 0 .VALLE

UNITED STATES M AGISTRATE JUDGE