US Navy Officer Charged in Horrific Child Sextortion Case
A shocking case of child sextortion has made headlines, with a US Navy officer facing severe charges for distributing and possessing graphic images of minors. Petty Officer 3rd Class Rumaldo Valdez, 22, was charged earlier this month with possessing visual images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), transporting them across state lines, and possessing them at a military facility.
The FBI began investigating in 2021 after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a user named "Duck" who had uploaded suspected CSAM to Discord. The investigation led to a complex trail of digital footprints, including variations of the username, email addresses, IP addresses, and phone numbers.
Discord provided critical information to the FBI, which helped agents link the suspicious accounts to Valdez. The email address and IP addresses led Google and an ISP to provide a name – Rumaldo Valdez – as did the phone number, which was listed as Valdez's contact number in his Navy records. The ISP confirmed the IP addresses were associated with a home address in Valdez's Navy records, which turned out to be his residence at the base in Hawaii.
In 2024, a confidential human source (CHS) who had pleaded guilty to federal charges of child pornography and cyberstalking provided additional intelligence. The CHS claimed that "Duck" was prominent on a Discord server dedicated to CSAM, where he edited pictures and videos and supplied them to others. According to the CHS, server members – including a member going by the moniker 'Duck' – would send victims links to malicious files that, if clicked on by the victims, would deploy malware on their computers that the server members could then use to accomplish blackmail.
The source claimed "Duck" was based somewhere near Oceanside, California, and he was still in high school when he first started interacting with the group. However, the felon could not provide more accurate location data. The source also described how "Duck" coerced a minor into performing a sex act on camera and then used the footage to blackmail her by threatening to share it with her family and friends.
The minor later sent him a video in which she cut his screen name into her arm – a clip he allegedly shared on Discord. FBI special agent Scott Wells reported that participants in such groups often collect victim "fan signs" (media) as trophies from their online extortions and championing their aliases.
Valdez joined the Navy in 2021 and was warned about monitoring and recording of computer activity on bases. When the FBI reviewed Valdez's military network activity logs, they found over 10,000 Discord chat URLs being accessed, repeated logins to the Gmail account linked to the "Duck" persona, and numerous searches related to malware and hacking tools.
Agents obtained a search warrant on May 31 last year, which led to the seizure of a desktop PC, two external hard drives, and an iPhone 14 from Valdez's home. Both drives were encrypted, but the decryption key was found on the computer in a file named "illegal chars.txt." Investigators discovered multiple files of CSAM on both drives and chat logs suggesting Valdez was distributing such material via Discord.
The FBI also obtained access to Snap, which filed a search warrant with the app maker to unlock and view the account. The biz agreed to preserve all data on the account, but before Valdez's arrest, it noticed seven attempts to log into the account from an Android phone. However, the account had two-factor authentication that was tied to the seized iPhone, and the logins were unsuccessful.
Valdez was formally charged on May 16 this year in Hawaii with three counts related to CSAM. The government has filed for him to be held without bail. A trial date has not been set yet.