Arrested in Peru; also Solicited Child Pornography
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, pictured above, allegedly Sent Hoax Bomb Threats to Numerous Schools, Synagogues, Airports, and Hospitals Across Five States, Causing Massive Disruptions, and Attempted to Produce and Receive Child Pornography
SDNY US Attorney Damian Williams announced the indictment of EDDIE MANUEL NUNEZ SANTOS, a/k/a “Lucas,” with making hoax bomb threats to more than 150 school districts, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall between September 15 and September 21, 2023 and during the Rosh Hashanah holiday.
NUNEZ SANTOS is also charged with attempting to induce a 15-year-old girl from Westchester to engage in sexually explicit conduct, photograph the conduct, and transmit the photographs over the Internet to SANTOS in Peru. When the girl refused, Santos is alleged to have sent the bomb threats in retaliation against her. Santos, 32, messaged the girl through an online application, that he was also 15 years old.
The 15-year old girl is only identified in court documents as Victim 4. “On or about June 2023, when Victim-4 was 15 years old, Victim-4 began communicating online with an individual believed by law enforcement to be SANTOS, who identified himself as “Lucas” and falsely represented himself to be a teenage male.
During the course of those communications, after Victim-4 informed “Lucas” of her age, “Lucas” repeatedly asked that Victim-4 send nude photographs of herself to “Lucas.” For example, and as I have confirmed based on my review of screenshots of Victim-4’s communications with “Lucas,” on or about August 23, 2023, “Lucas” asked Victim-4 to send “Lucas” a photograph of her “pussy.”
After Victim-4 refused to send “Lucas” nude photographs of herself, “Lucas” threatened Victim-4 by stating that he would plant bombs in Victim-4’s school district, which “Lucas” stated he believed to be in Westchester County, and by killing Victim-4.
Two unidentified Westchester synagogues were targeted. “For example, on or about September 17, 2023, a synagogue in Westchester County received the following email: I placed multiple bombs inside the Jewish Center. The bombs I placed in the building will blow up in a few hours. Many people will lay in a pool of blood.
“That same day, another synagogue in Westchester County received the following email: I placed bombs in the Jewish Center. The pipe bombs will blow up in a few hours. I’ll gladly smile when your families are crying because of your deaths.”
The bomb threats to the Westchester synagogues also included a phone numbers and IP address for the synagogues to contact. The FBI determined that the phone number and IP address was used by the 15-year old girl.
NUNEZ SANTOS, a Peruvian national, was arrested on September 26, 2023, by Peruvian authorities in Lima, Peru, based on the charges in the Complaint.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the defendant’s relentless campaign of false bomb threats caused an immediate mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverting critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and caused fear in hundreds of communities across this country. The defendant allegedly engaged in this reprehensible and socially destructive conduct in a twisted attempt to retaliate against teenage girls who refused his requests for nude and sexually explicit photographs. The charges unsealed today show that those who engage in such conduct, wreaking havoc on our communities, will not find safe haven merely because they do it from outside our borders. Working together with our law enforcement partners, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said: “Not only did Santos allegedly email hundreds of hoax bomb threats terrorizing schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, he also perversely tried to sextort innocent teenage girls. His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children. The FBI will not tolerate anyone who seeks to induce fear in our communities, and we will do whatever it takes to put the perpetrators of such actions behind bars, regardless of their location.”
As alleged in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:[1]
On September 15, 2023, the FBI began receiving reports of bomb threats, sent primarily via email or online contact forms, to various institutions located across New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska. Through its investigation, including the examination of email, phone, and Internet Protocol (“IP”) address data, the FBI was able to determine that NUNEZ SANTOS, a 33-year-old Peruvian national residing in Lima, was responsible for sending the threats. The threats sent by NUNEZ SANTOS all contained substantially similar content and targeted schools, synagogues, airports, hospitals, and a shopping mall.
NUNEZ SANTOS, 33, of Peru, is charged with (i) transmitting threatening interstate communications, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (ii) conveying false information and hoaxes, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; (iii) attempting to sexually exploit a child, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; (iv) attempting to coerce and entice a minor, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and (v) attempting to receive child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The threats, which occurred during the Rosh Hashanah holiday, spanned multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, and Alaska, and resulted in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital, and flight delays.
