Joint investigation leads to arrest and child exploitation charges
A joint investigation between the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina has resulted in the arrest of an 18-year-old Collinsville man on multiple felony charges related to the sexual assault and exploitation of a juvenile.
On June 27, 2026, detectives with the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the reported sexual assault of a 14-year-old female in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Investigators determined the suspect and the juvenile had communicated through a social media messaging application before arranging to meet. The suspect allegedly entered the juvenile’s residence during the early morning hours before fleeing the scene after being discovered.
As the investigation progressed, detectives identified the suspect as Luis Angel Zuniga-Salgado, 18, of Collinsville, Virginia. The investigation led to the issuance of arrest warrants in North Carolina charging him with two counts of Statutory Rape of a Child Under 15 Years of Age, First Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, and Second-Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.
Working closely with investigators from the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office located and arrested Zuniga-Salgado in Henry County on July 10, 2026, without incident.
During the investigation, Henry County investigators also received information through the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. A court authorized search of the suspect’s cellular telephone resulted in the discovery of images and videos identified as Child Sexual Abuse Material involving the same juvenile victim.
As a result, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office charged Zuniga-Salgado with:
•Violation of Virginia Code Section: 18.2-374.1:1 – Possession of Child Pornography, First Offense •Violation of Virginia Code Section: 18.2-374.1:1 – Six (6) counts of Possession of Child Pornography, Second or Subsequent Offense
Zuniga-Salgado is currently being held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center pending extradition to North Carolina. Authorities have also advised that an immigration detainer has been lodged.
This investigation remains active as detectives from both agencies continue to work together.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office also recognizes the assistance provided by the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in support of this investigation.
An election worker processes mail-in ballots for the California state primary election at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on June 5, 2026, in City of Industry, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Postal Service (USPS) has released a new rule adding verification requirements to all mail-in ballots, falling short of President Donald Trump’s expectations but providing additional scrutiny.
These changes will not go into effect unless the Supreme Court lifts an injunction imposed by a lower court. If given the go-ahead, the postal service said the changes would occur immediately.
Under the proposed change, states would be required to collect and report basic voter information, such as a voter’s name and home address, attached to a unique barcode on every mail-in ballot distributed. Currently, there is no standardized requirement or method for states to track this information, instead letting each state independently decide how its mail-in voting system operates.
State election authorities would then be required to input this information into a “federal ballot mail portal” before the ballot is accepted into the mail stream.
The USPS said it would not deliver ballots to any state not in compliance with these changes.
The move comes after months of attempts by the Trump administration to collect voter information in the name of election integrity. Some experts are concerned that consolidation of that information into federal hands undermines the Constitution’s system of state-run elections.
“If the administration can determine who is American enough to register to vote, who can prove it sufficiently, then they would have a lot of power to shape the electorate,” said Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy for the bipartisan nonprofit Campaign Legal Center.
The new requirements fall short of Trump’s demands — his March executive order on mail-in ballots would have established statewide voter citizenship lists from Social Security or immigration databases, established uniform ballots, and had the USPS “coordinate with the USPS Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice for investigation of suspected unlawful use of the mail involving Federal election materials.”
Most of these demands are included but watered down in the USPS’ final rule, ultimately creating a system that would track eligible voters by name and address, but keep citizenship largely out of it.
“No other voter information, such as birthdate, social security number, or other voter registration details, will be uploaded to the Portal,” the USPS said. “The Postal Service will not play any role in determining voter eligibility, maintaining voter rolls, or counting ballots.”
This rule is not a mail-in ballot ban, nor does it include the military, disability, illness, and travel exceptions requested by the president.
Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court over his executive order directing USPS to make these rules remains pending.
On Monday morning, the Trump administration notified the Supreme Court of the USPS rule finalization, saying it merely imposes “modest envelope design requirements” on states that wish to use U.S. mail to distribute ballots.
The government insists that the rules fall short of “restricting” mail-in voting and leave out many of the president’s demands.
“USPS will not perform any verification of voter eligibility or the like,” Solicitor General John Sauer told the court. The USPS will “not refuse to transmit ballots from individuals who were not on the state-provided list.”
The rule does say data collected “will help to facilitate enforcement of federal law.”
“It will provide federal law enforcement with a list of individuals to whom states planned to mail a ballot (and who may potentially use the mail to vote), along with the associated barcode data,” the USPS said.
The rule comes alongside months of gridlock for the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s signature piece of election reform that would require photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
“To Vote a person must show PHOTO VOTER I.D., PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, AND THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE CROOKED, CORRUPT, & DESTABILIZING MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPTIONS for Military, Disabled, Illness, and Travel!),” the president wrote on social media. “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT’S non-passage is CRAZY, and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it!”
The president has long demanded the bill make it through Congress, even calling on the termination of the Senate filibuster to make it easier to pass, though Democrats and some Republican lawmakers say the rules would disenfranchise too many American voters. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Alaska’s 20-year struggle to implement REAL ID demonstrates just how incredibly difficult the enforcement of federal mandates can be and how unlikely it is that the SAVE America Act could be effectively implemented on an expedited basis,” Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a statement.
“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. As doubt is cast on their legitimacy and public trust erodes, we would do well to avoid partisan reforms that sound good on paper but may work very differently in the real world,” she added.
The USPS said it received “more than 200,000 comments” on the change and recognized concerns in its rule Friday.
“While the Postal Service acknowledges the range of disagreement on this point, the incidence of voter fraud does not impact the proposed rule’s legal grounding,” the USPS said. “Such enhanced visibility will help identify potential issues that would have otherwise gone undetected; at the very least, it will provide increased assurance that any potential issues are more capable of being effectively identified and investigated.”
The USPS said the rule will be officially published on Aug. 26. A U.S. appeals court upheld the district judge’s injunction in July, keeping any changes to mail-in ballots on hold while litigation continues.
