The 23-year-old FDNY Emergency Medical Technician was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport after Customs and Border Protection officers uncovered approximately 14,000 images and videos of suspected child sexual abuse material on his phone.
The arrest occurred on June 1, 2026, when the traveler, a U.S. citizen employed as an EMT with the Fire Department of the City of New York, arrived at JFK from Santiago, Dominican Republic. He was referred to secondary inspection, where officers from the Human Trafficking Unit conducted a baggage and electronic device examination.
What they found was horrifying. A hidden folder on the device contained roughly 14,000 images and videos depicting adults engaged in sexual acts with prepubescent children, prepubescent and pubescent children engaged in sexual acts, and pubescent and age-indeterminate individuals engaged in sexual acts.
The phone also contained the MEGA cloud storage application, a tool notorious for its end-to-end encryption that predators exploit to store and distribute illegal child sexual abuse material while making it extremely difficult for law enforcement to access without credentials.
On the same day, the defendant appeared in Queens Supreme Criminal Court and was arraigned on New York state sexual offense charges. He is accused of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
A hidden folder on the device contained roughly 14,000 images and videos depicting adults engaged in sexual acts with prepubescent children, prepubescent and pubescent children engaged in sexual acts, and pubescent and age-indeterminate individuals engaged in sexual acts.
According to court documents, several videos allegedly found on Detres show girls 7 to 10 years old, officials estimate. In one video, a girl stands naked in a bathtub while a man urinates on her. Another shows a child with her mouth on a man's penis while "crying and shaking her head no."
The defendant "admitted, in sum and substance, he knew he had the child porn on his phone," the complaint states. Judge Lana Schlesinger released Detres without bail and set his next court appearance for Aug. 20. A DA spokesperson said the charges are "not bail-eligible" under state law.
The FDNY suspended Detres without pay for 30 days on June 2, a move that sparked outrage and calls for stronger action. Under civil service rules, the city must then return him to the payroll at least until his criminal case is resolved.
