An Apache Junction man was arrested Jan. 25 on the charges of multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, police said.

The arrest is the result of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigation that began in Portland, Oregon. Investigators in Portland received a tip from a social media platform that sparked an investigation into a nationwide child porn ring. That investigation eventually pointed to two different addresses in Apache Junction, Apache Junction police said.

In addition, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from another social media platform. That tip pointed investigators to one of the same addresses they were looking at in Apache Junction, police said.

The information in those investigations was forwarded to Apache Junction Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division. In conjunction with HSI Casa Grande, AJPD Detective Steven Jeansonne drafted and executed a search warrant on residences in the 2100 block of South Descanso and in the 2700 block of South Starr Road.

More than 100 images and videos featuring the sexual exploitation of infants and toddlers were seized, police said.

Detective Jeansonne and an HSI investigator are conducting forensic examinations of the electronics that were seized. Additional evidence in the form of digital images and videos may be discovered, police said.

Dale Albert Ray Lenz, 29, was arrested and booked into the Pinal County Detention Center on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

All suspects are considered innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

Below is a screenshot from https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/sheriff/pages/searchinmates.aspx.

A screenshot from https://www.pinalcountyaz.gov/sheriff/pages/searchinmates.aspx.