Bonneville County Man Arrested and Charged with Sexual Battery of a Minor, Lewd Conduct with a Minor, Production of Child Sexual Exploitation Material

[BOISE] - Attorney General Raúl Labrador has announced investigators with his Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit arrested thirty-one-year-old Cristian Escalera Maldonado on Sunday, December 22, 2024. Maldonado has been charged with four (4) counts of sexual battery of a minor 16 or 17 years old, one (1) count of lewd conduct with a minor under sixteen, one (1) count of sexual exploitation by production of child sexual abuse material, and one (1) count of sexual exploitation by possession of child sexual abuse material. He is being held in the Bonneville County jail, and the judge set bail at $500,000.

"I am grateful for the hard work of our ICAC Unit and our law enforcement partners around the state," said Attorney General Labrador. "Protecting kids from sexual abuse and exploitation is a top priority for all of us. Our children deserve to be safe from these horrible crimes and predators."

The arrest was made by investigators with the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office and the Idaho Falls Police Department serving in the Attorney General's ICAC Unit.

Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney General's ICAC Unit at 208-947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

The Attorney General's ICAC Unit works with the Idaho ICAC Task Force, a coalition of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, to investigate and prosecute individuals who use the internet to criminally exploit children.

Parents, educators, and law enforcement officials can find more information and helpful resources at the ICAC website, ICACIdaho.org.