A FEDERAL criminal complaint has been filed against Nicolas Franklin Salas Palacios, charging him with one count of possession of child pornography.
Palacios was arrested on April 22, 2025, but upon the request of the federal prosecutor, his case was sealed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe also requested that the court issue an order detaining Palacios while the case remains pending.
At a detention hearing on April 30, 2025, District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona granted the request of the federal government and ordered Palacios detained pending trial.
Palacios, whose date of birth was redacted, was represented by court-appointed attorney David Banes.
Judge Manglona instructed the parties to submit a stipulation regarding redactions to the complaint and affidavit and directed the prosecution to file a redacted version of both the complaint and the affidavit.
The redactions will conceal personal identifying information and information that could potentially prejudice the defendant’s right to a fair trial.
After the redactions to the complaint were filed, the judge unsealed the case.
Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Richard Bauer, in an affidavit in support of criminal complaint and arrest warrant, said Palacios violated Title 18, United States Code section 2252(a)(4)(B) (Possession of Child Pornography).
According to the complaint, on Feb. 11, 2025, the FBI special agent was contacted by a detective from the Department of Public Safety reporting a complaint he received from a community member.
Bauer conducted an interview with the complainant on March 6, 2025.
He said the complainant told him that around Feb. 8-14, 2025, while in Palacios’ home, the defendant began talking about his “kinks” and the different things that aroused him sexually.
The complaint stated that Palacios revealed that he was sexually aroused by young children and had accessed and downloaded videos and images of children in sexual situations through the “dark web” and torrent programs.
Palacios also showed the complainant the videos and images on his MacBook, the complaint stated.
Database and social media checks conducted by the FBI revealed multiple email accounts belonging to Palacios.
A cyber tip linked to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children submitted by Google on Feb. 6, 2024 listed Palacios as a suspect.
The FBI on April 22, 2025, executed a search and seizure warrant at Palacios’ residence where eight electronic devices were seized while the defendant was detained at the scene.
After being advised of his Miranda rights, Palacios waived them and responded to questioning, according to the complaint.
Palacios said sometime in 2015 while in college, he began experimenting with drugs, and a college friend introduced him to videos of child pornography. He said he would typically download images and videos of child pornography from the “dark web” when he was high and would delete them after watching them.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 13 at 1:30 p.m.
